Happy Birthday Babe
by Sannaoo
Summary: It's Stephanies birthday, but who is she going to spend it with?
1. panties and CDs

_Okay first of all I want to apologize right away for any spelling or grammatic errors that can (and will) appear in this story. I'm using the fact that I'm Swedish as an excuse ;) Other than that I hope you will enjoy it! Oh and this is my very first fanfic, so go easy on me. Well this is the first chapter, there are moore coming. Enjoy / Sannaoo  
_

_**Disclaimer **: I don't own any of the characters or the plot, it's all Janet Evanovichs'. I'm just borrowing them from time to time. _

_**Spoilers / Warnings** : No major spoilers, maybe some hints from TBO but nothing big. _

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"You gonna eat those?" 

"What do you think? Of course I'm gonna eat those!" Lula and I were at McDonald's for what was supposed to be a quick snack, but ended up being lunch involving almost everything on the menu. At least for Lula. But that didn't stop her from making a move on my fries.

"Ey come on girl, I'm a big woman I need more fries than your skinny ass to feel full". For a second there I almost burst out laughing, only Lula would say such a thing while having a super sized bag of fries in front of her.

"You know normally I'd give you the rest of my fries, just to be nice, but today…no way! It's _my_ birthday so I have the right to eat every last one of them"

"That's what I hate about birthdays, everyone starts _demanding _things" Lula said and rolled her eyes. "But however, that reminds me" she brushed some salt of her fingers and bent down to her bag. She unzipped it and pulled out a small envelope with a bow around it. She handed it over and said "Happy birthday girl". I took the envelope and smiled at her

"Thanks Lula, you know didn't have to". We both knew that we didn't have to give each other anything, but we also knew that both of us are like 5 year olds on Christmas morning when it comes to presents. I ripped the enveloped open and pulled out a gift certificate for 50 dollars at Macy's. That was one of the things a liked best about Lula, for a lot of people a gift certificate would seem like a bad and impersonal gift. But she knows that every girl loves to shop, and who does your shopping better than yourself, therefore it's a perfect gift.

I looked up at here and smiled my biggest smile "it's perfect!" She just winked at me and said,

"I know! And you know what this means don't cha?" Of course I knew.

"SHOPPING!" We finished eating up our food then when out to the car to head for Macy's. All the skips and bad guys just hade to wait until I had found my perfect gift.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After a few ours we had tried on I don't know how many pairs of shoes with fuck-me-heals, too-much-cleavage-dresses and the ugliest outfits we could find, you know just for the fun of it, but I still hadn't found my present. When we got to the lingerie's Lula stopped and turned to me.

"When was the last time you bought yourself a pair of hot and sexy undies?" Wow, now let me think about that.

"Well have long have you got?" I said as a hint to the zillion of years it felt like it had been since I bought a pair of fuck-me-panties instead of shoes. "I guess it goes all the way back to the Dickie days" I finally admitted with a deep sigh.

"Oh girl you gotta be kiddin' me!" Lula shouted out, a few people around stopped and looked at us. "Well that does it! You are buying panties, no questions about it!" she said and started to roam the shelves. At first I wasn't so sure but then it hit me, _why not?_ Why shouldn't I pamper myself a little bit? Just because I don't really have anybody to show them to doesn't mean I don't have the right to wear underwear that makes me feel hot and sexy. Yep, sexy lingerie's it is. And besides… Morelli and I aren't completely off, even if we're not completely on either. And all of a sudden a sexy Cuban popped into my mind, mmhm wouldn't mind letting him take a look at... oh my god! What was I thinking? I shook my head and pushed Ranger out of my thoughts before I started to blush and get hot flashes in the middle of Macy's.

"How about these?" Lula snapped me be back to reality and held up a neon yellow thong with a zipper in the front. I shook my head.

"Too much porn star." I started to check out the different shapes and forms of panties and bras that were hanging on the shelves and thought to myself – hey this is fun! I should do this more often.

"You say it goes all the way back to the Dickie days" Lula said after a while "how come you never bought Super Cop some fuck-me-panties?" I thought about it for a second.

"Well Joe never really cared about was between the clothes and being naked, he would just rip them off without even noticing if it was granny panties or a lace thong. So it actually felt unnecessary to spend a lot of money on it if it wouldn't even get noticed or ripped to pieces in two seconds". Lula just stared at me with a dazed look.

"You're imagining him ripping your undies to pieces aren't you?"

"Well mostly I'm thinking about his hot ass… but yeah, that too". I shook my head laughing and kept looking. After another hour we left Macy's with bags in our hands. Lula hadn't been able to resist the lingerie's and bought a few things herself. Apparently she had a hot date tonight and they might come in handy. I hade found the perfect matching bra and panties, not too sluty and not too schoolgirl. They were deep red with a little bit of decorating lace and with thong panties. The bra was a push-up that gave me a flattering cleavage. All in all I felt damn sexy in them. Mission accomplished.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When we were on our way back to the office my cell rang. I heard the Yankee Doodle melody and already knew who it was. I flipped it open.

"Hi Joe"

"Hey cupcake, what's up?" Hmf, no happy birthday from him oh no, of course not!

"Not much, been shopping with Lula, we're heading back to the office right now, you?" I chose to ignore the non-congratulation.

"Nothing special, hey do you mind stopping by at my place as soon as possible, I would like to talk to you" Uh oh I thought to myself, another you-gotta-quit-your-job-argument and I would throw up on him. But I guess I didn't have much of a choice.

"Okay I'll stop by as soon as I dropped Lula off".

"Great, see ya then! Bye" and then he hung up.

"Super cop?" Lula asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah ha, seems like he wants so talk…" Lula shook her head

"Talking never did you any good with that man".

"Tell me about it" I muttered with a sigh. We stopped in front of the office building and Lula jumped out of the car wishing me good luck and I headed over to Joes'.

As soon as I rang the doorbell he opened the door and pulled me into a hard embrace. "Nice to see you Cupcake" his voice was husky. I felt a shiver go down my spine. He pulled away and grabbed my hand, bringing me inside.

"Nice to see you too" He turned and smiled playfully at me. What was going on? He seemed so happy, happy in the way kids are when they know something you don't. Well at least he didn't seem like he wanted to have a big talk about my "risky business". I was relived, I sooo did not want to have that conversation today. But it didn't stop me from wondering what he was up to.

"You look so sneaky Joe, what's going on?" He grinned at me and put up a finger.

"Wait a second… you'll see" Then he turned around and headed for the refrigerator. Oh boy I thought to myself, this might involve food! He opened it and took out a box and gave it to me. I opened it eagerly.

"Wow Boston Crème donuts! I love them!" I smiled up at him

"I know… Happy birthday Cupcake" he kissed me on the cheek.

"You knew!" I said surprised. He laughed at me.

"Of course I did! Did you really expect me to forget your big day?" he tucked a string of hair behind my ears.

"Well you're a man… men are masters at forgetting things like birthdays, Valentines Day and anniversaries, you know all the things that matter to women"

"Well I didn't forget. But wait, the donuts isn't everything" he said and walked into the living room.

"You mean there's more?" I yelled after him. He reentered the room with a present in his hand and gave it to me.

"Awe you're so sweet". From the outside it looked like a CD, you know flat, square shaped and hard. A CD is good, always appreciated and should be fairly easy with me. I was curious to see what CD he had gotten me and started to rip the paper. When I saw the cover I froze… it was Linking Park.

"I know you love rock, so I thought this must really be something for Steph" Joe smiled at me. Rock – yeah, this piece of rap-metal-shit – NO! I mean come on, rock is Metallica or Aerosmith, not this crap. Who invented the rap-metal genre anyway? Then I realized he was waiting for my response… waiting for me to say I love it. Shit.

"Uhm yeah I love rock" I blurted out, giving him a quick kiss and hug. "Thanks a lot" when I let him go I quickly shoved a donut in my mouth to cover up my loss for words. And because I really wanted a donut.

"I knew you'd like it!" he smiled and ruffled my hair.

"Mhaha" I laughed insecurely and nodded. He took a donut out of the box and started to eat.

"You know, I really wanted to take you out to dinner tonight, I have thought about it for days. But then this stupid work thing came up that I really have to go to. It's in New You" he really did look disappointed.

"But, if you want to, I have already made dinner reservations for tomorrow night to make up for it?" He looked anxiously at me.

"That's a stupid question, of course I'd like to go!" That was actually kind of sweet of him.

"Okay good, I was hoping so. Because there's really something I need to talk to you about" He looked more serious now. Shit, here comes the "risky business talk".

"What about?"

"We'll take it tomorrow night. Now I really have to get back to the office, and I'm guessing so do you." I nodded and rose from my spot on the table where I had been sitting. "So I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure, that sounds good" Then he picked up the box of donuts and handed it to me and we made our ways out to the cars. Just as I was about to get in behind the steering wheel Joe yelled,

"Hey Steph!"

"Yeah?"

"Where something nice" then he jumped into his car and drove off. I shook my head and stepped into the car. "Linking Park" I said to myself. That dinner better make up for it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I stepped into the office and saw Lula behind the filing cabinet, actually working for once. Connie was deep into her computer, probably playing Pinball or something. When she saw me come in she drew her attention from the computer.

"Hey Stephanie, happy birthday" she said and gave me a smile. "Sorry I haven't got you anything, if you want I can call my uncle and have him arrange something? You want anything special?

"Ah, no thanks Connie, I'm good!" A present from Connies' family is not something you should strive for, unless a dead horse head in your bed is exactly what you want. Yes, she's _that_ kind of Italian.

"Ey what did Morelli want with you?" I could hear Lula ask from behind the cabinet. "He tried to talk you in to settling down again didn't he?"

"Actually no he didn't, he wished me happy birthday and gave me some donuts and a CD."

"He gave you donuts?" Lulas head popped up. I nodded. "Well what are you standing around there for, hand 'em over!" I picked up the box and gave it to her. "Oh yeah Boston Crème, the best kind!" she sat down on the couch and dug in.

"So he remembered your birthday, not bad, " Connie said. "What CD did he get you?"

"Uhm.." I hesitated. They both stopped and starred at me. "Well, he got me Linking Park" I stated and tried to look normal. They looked at each other then burst out laughing.

"And he actually things you like that shit?" Lula said with too much donut in her mouth.

"Yep, and I'm not a but to break his bubble. But he also wanted to take me to dinner tonight but some work thing got in the middle. So were going out tomorrow instead.

"I thought you already hade plans with Mary Lou tonight?" Lula asked

"Yeah, but _he_ doesn't know that, and now he's feeling guilty 'cause he can't take me out tonight, so tomorrow we're going somewhere fancy." The girls smiled sneaky at me.

"Well you gotta get something for that lame CD" Connie said and we burst out laughing again.

"Yeah I know. But hey, have you got any skips for me today?" She turned around and picked up a file.

"Just Mooner, things are going slow now." Just as she reached over to give me the file she stiffened and her gaze traveled to something behind me. I could here Lula inhale quickly, the next thing I knew a worm big hand settled in the back of my neck. All the tiny hairs on my neck stood at full alert and I no longer needed to look.

"Got anything for me today Connie?" Ranger said, leaning in letting his body brush up against mine slightly. I could smell his Bulgari and I felt my knees go weak. DAMN did he smell good. He reached over and grabbed the file in my hand.

"Lucky you have Mooner as a regular, otherwise you could have some trouble paying your rent Babe." he teased. Just as I was about to fire something in return Connie turned back to us handing him two files. As he flipped trough them he began to say "Hey Babe, I…" But before he got any further I had already taken my chance and turned around and walked out of there as fast as I could. Oh **shit**! Did I just walk out on Ranger? I knew that was stupid. You don't walk out on Batman if you want your life intact. I just couldn't stand the smell of Bulgari on him any longer; I could have jumped him if he had gotten any closer. Now I just prayed he had more stuff to do in there so I would have time to drive away before he got to me. But why hope? Five steps out the door and I felt a hand grab my arm and jerk me around.

"Thought you could walk out on me Babe? Well guess what, no one walks out on me" he pulled me close and pressed his hard body against mine. I could feel his breath against my ear. Oh boy this was not going well. But then he pulled away from me and started to walk away.

"I need your help on a job"

"Distraction?" that really was the only thing I could help the RangeMan's with, dressing like a slut, tricking skips into thinking I was so horny I could do it right there on the spot. Until I got them outside and Ranger and his men cuffed them up and hauled their sorry asses to the station.

"Yep, two days from know, you up for it?" he stopped and looked at me. After that I don't know what the hell got into me but all of a sudden I took a bold step towards him and said

"Yeah Ranger… I'm always up for it" putting an extra meaning into the last words. His eyes went dark and time seemed to stop for a few seconds. Then he grabbed my shirt pulling me into the alley between the buildings, pinning me to the wall.

"You shouldn't teas like that Babe, it's not good for you" he whispered against my mouth. And then he kissed the living daylight out of me. I wasn't slow to answer him, kissing just as eagerly. When I felt his hands pulling my t-shirt up, letting his hands roam freely over my stomach I gasped for breath, and when his hands reached the swell of my breasts I knew I was a goner. I also knew I shouldn't be doing this, it was so wrong. I still hadn't worked out my guilt problems over Morelli, but then why did this feel so damn good? Just as I asked myself that he pulled away, his breathing uneasy – oh so I wasn't the only one affected by this, nice to know. "Remember Babe, two days from know". Then he was gone. Leaving me there in the alley all shook up and with swollen lips. I seriously gotta stop letting him do this. It wasn't good for me. Well it was good… but not good. You know what I mean.

* * *

_I don't remember Stephanies actual age so I simply guessed. _

_And all you Linking Park fans out there, **sorry**! don't take it personal ;) _

_Oh, and all you who wants moore of Ranger... have patiente!_


	2. Could I be more pathetic?

_First of all, thank you **so** much for all the great reviews, you all made my day!_

_I seem to have upset a few people with the whole Linkin' Park thing, I'm **really** sorry about that! It wasn't ment as a personal attac against anyone who listens to them, hey even I don't think they're as bad as I make them out to be in this story. So sorry about that and I promise there will be no more bashing of them. _

_And for those of you who have begged me not to make Joe into a monster or Ranger into a muchy soap opera star, you can all relax! I promsie you that Iwon't make Joe out to be an asshole or Ranger into a whimp. It just doesn't fit them ;)  
_

_And again, sorry for any spelling or grammatic errors! Other than that I hope you'll enjoy! _

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**Then he was gone. Leaving me there in the alley all shook up and with swollen lips. I seriously gotta stop letting him do this. It wasn't good for me. Well it was good… but not good. You know what I mean.**

* * *

I went to my car and decided to go see what Mooner was up to. And even though I didn't like admitting that Ranger was right, maybe convincing him to come with me to the station so I actually could pay rent this month. Or eat. 

When I got there he didn't answer my knock, but I heard the TV so I opened the door.

"Hey Mooner" He was sitting, as expected, in front of the TV.

"Oh hey Steph! Dude you gotta see this" he pointed at the TV "It's a VH1 special about Van Halen, totally awesome!" Well you can't miss Van Halen can you? I sat down next to him. "You missed your court date again" I said as a reminder.

"Oh yeah, totally forgot about it"

"Tell you what. As soon as this show is over, we'll go down to the station get you a new date and then I'll drive you back, okay?"

"Sure thing dude" he said smiling at me before returning to his show.

As we sat there my mind began to drift. What the hell was going on with me? Why was my feelings so messed up? What was really going on with Joe and me? I mean sure I love him, but what kind of love is it? When he gave me his present he reminded me of a younger brother. You know how they give you a gift that they think is so good and they are so proud that they got it right, but really it's all wrong. But you don't have the heart to tell them. And then there's the physical thing. Yeah sure, we are always in physical contact, but it's more of a friendly contact, you know hugs and cheek kisses. Where's the passion? The tare of your clothes before you die kind of passion we used to have? Don't get me wrong the physical attraction is still there, and he can still send shivers down my spine just by looking at me. But then why does he so seldom do it? Our hot relationship is slowly turning into something else. And I'm not sure how I feel about that.

And then of course we have Ranger, Batman himself. Him on the other hand, there's nothing brotherly about. Oh and speaking of passion… here it is. This man can make my skin burn just by touching me with his fingertips. No one can deny the attraction even if they try. And I hate to admit it but I think my feelings for him are growing stronger every time I see him. And that scares me. A lot. Because I know, more than well, how his life "doesn't lend itself to relationships". I also know more than well that the deeper my feelings for him gets, the deeper I'm gonna get hurt. Man… I shouldn't be doing this. I'm starting to get to old for this shit! I mean, for god sake I'm turning 32 today. I can't live like this forever, fighting with Morelli over my job while getting pinned to the wall by Ranger. And the whole thing giving me such a bad conscience that I sometimes feel nauseous. I'm finally starting to understand my mother. I don't have time to play around like this. Maybe I needed to straighten out my life. Maybe Joe is my last chance of a "normal" life. And maybe I should try to make it work with Joe once and for all. But…what about Ranger?

My thoughts kept spinning so fast I lost track of what was going on around me. All of a sudden I felt someone poking me in the arm.

"Hey dude" I broke my trans and looked up at Mooner. "You're really weird you know that? Whispering mysterious words and shit" oh good, I was talking out loud again. I do that sometimes. Suddenly his eyes grew big "maybe some one from another round tried to give us a message trough you!" You could actually see his imagination run wild. I stood up from the couch.

"No Mooner, I just ramble sometimes. Come on, let's go to the station". He picked up the remote, turned of the TV and we went out to the car. As we drove to the station I decided that today wasn't the day to think about something as heavy as this, nope today was all about me! Me and Mary Lou, going out having a blast, just like back in the good old days. I would deal with it another time.

When I unlocked the door to my apartment I was thinking about what to wear tonight, the new, sexy undies were given. But what to wear above that? I closed the door and strew my bag on the floor. My answering machine was blinking; I pressed the button and the room filled with Mary Lous' voice.

"You put that down right this second or mommy's gonna be real mad at you! Put it down NOW!" it sounded like one of the kids were playing with fire. "Hey Steph, sorry about that. And speaking of sorry, I have some bad news" Uh oh, this didn't sound good. "I'm afraid I can't go out tonight, the kids are really sick and my slug of a husband was supposed to watch them, but he has to work late" she paused to scream at the kids some more and I felt my mood drop. "I'm SO sorry, I know it's unforgivable but I have tried in every way to get a babysitter but everyone seems to be busy tonight. But I know how popular you are, if Lula and Connie can't go I know Joe and Ranger will be tripping over their own legs to get to you." She tried to sound encouraging at first. "And well… you can always go to you're parents. At least there you would get some cake". She sighed. "I'm really sorry about this and I promise to make it up to you as soon as I can… and oh, Happy birthday honey! I'll see you."

Great. Fabulous. Wonderful. Splendid. Alone on my birthday. Could I be more pathetic? Probably not. My life really sucks sometimes! I kicked off my shoes and slouched down on the couch. No, get a grip Steph! Maybe it's not to late yet; it might still be time to save the evening. I stretched out and started to go trough the list of people who possibly could save my birthday. Okay so lets se.

Lula – well that would be the next choice but she had that damn hot date tonight.

Connie – okay I already explained the risks in getting involved with her family.

Joe – damn that stupid work thing in New York!

Constanza – well he probably was at the same thing as Joe.

Valerie – well I didn't feel like bringing my nieces to a bar and even if she did get a babysitter she would just whine about Kloughn the whole evening. And that I wouldn't handle.

Sally Sweet – probably busy singing some Diana Ross song on stage.

Mooner – Hm somehow I felt spending my birthday watching VH1 with Mooner would be even more pathetic than sitting home alone.

My parents' house – well at least then I would get a proper meal and some cake. But I already had managed to get out of my mothers invitations by saying I already had plans with Mary Lou and I _so_ didn't feel like hearing my mother complain about my life tonight.

Well that left… Ranger. Well that was out of the question. He hadn't seemed to know it was my birthday when I saw him this afternoon and I _definitly_ wasn't gonna call and tell him. Besides, he doesn't feel like the birthday celebrating type. He probably wouldn't even eat cake because of his body-is-a-temple-thing. Can you imagine a birthday without cake? Didn't think so. No madness, that's what it is. Well, so that ruled out my last option. It looks like I'm spending the night alone after all. God I'm pathetic. Well this calls for Ben & Jerry's, and not just one oh nooo! This is a two-tubes-kinda-night. I grabbed my keys and made my way down to my car.

When the first tube of Ben & Jerry's was finished I was lying in my couch watching "My best friends wedding". Why the hell didn't I have a back up friend like that? You know someone to marry if you both ended up being unmarried losers at 30? Yep a back up friend could really come in handy just about now. Unmarried loser was the least thing you could say about me at the moment. Just look at me, here I was on my 32 birthday, alone, eating a ton of ice cream in front of the TV, wearing new sexy underwear with no one to show them to. And yes, I _am_ wearing the new undies, I need _something_ to make me feel special here okay!

Just when I was on the verge of giving in and going to my parents there was a knock on my door. Who the hell? I thought to myself as I got up. I peered trough the keyhole and I felt my heart skip a beat.

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_  
Sorry about the cliff, but I'll update some more soon! Have a great weekend/ Sanna_

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	3. surprises

_Hi everybody! Thanks again SO much for the reviews_  
_Well here's the third part, hope you all like it! (and again, I apologize for my bad english)  
_

_**Disclaimer **: I don't own anything.  
_

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**Just when I was on the verge of giving in and going to my parents there was a knock on my door. Who the hell? I thought to myself as I got up. I peered trough the keyhole and I felt my heart skip a beat.**

* * *

I opened the door.

"Hi Ranger" I said surprised. He was leaning sexy against the doorframe looking at me. "Since when do you knock?" He grinned at me.

"Sometimes I do that" he pushed himself of the doorframe, stepping inside and pulling me into an embrace. "Happy Birthday Babe!" he whispered against my neck. I pushed myself away from him.

"How do you know?" I couldn't help but smile. His wolf grin grew wider.

"I just know"

"One of those if I knew you'd had to kill me type of things?" He chuckled and said.

"Yeah Babe, something like that". He let go of me, picked up a bag from the floor and walked into my living room. Well maybe this night wasn't gonna be a total failure after all.

We sat down on my couch and he started looking for something in his bag.

"I've got something for you" he handed me a gift rapped package. WHAT? My jaw was literally on the floor. Ranger giving me a birthday present? Oh somebody better pinch me, or something 'cause I sure as hell got to be dreaming. Next thing I knew ranger pinched my thigh.

"No Babe, you're not dreaming" Oh shit did I just say that out loud? Ranger picked up on my train of thought "Yep you did" Damn ESP! He wolf grinned at me. But then my attention traveled to the present in his hand.

"That's so sweet of you, you know you really didn't have to!"

"I know, but I wanted to" he reassured and put the gift in my hand. I accepted it and stroked his cheek carefully before turning into the five year old kid again, curious as hell! I opened the rapping paper and pulled out what appeared to be a magazine. I turned it over and… _holy shit_! It was the first edition of the first Wonder Woman comic book. Okay I don't know much about comics but I do know that first edition copes are worth a fortune and close to _impossible_ to get your hands on, you know another one of those if he told me he had to kill me type of things. But that wasn't what touched me the most. It was Wonder Woman. I don't know how many jokes Rangers Merry Men had made about me being Wonder Woman and Ranger being Batman. Also, she was somewhat of a personal hero for me. Wonder Woman and Scarlett O'Hara. I felt my stomach go worm. This was the perfect gift, personal and considerate. I sat stunned for a moment starring at the magazine. Ranger was completely still. Then I jumped him; giving him the biggest hug I possible could and kissed him quickly on the lips.

"It's wonderful" I looked him straight in the eyes. For a second I could se a worm look of happiness in Rangers eyes before they went back to blank. But he smiled and said.

"Glad you like it"

"I love it. Thank you" His hand stroked my cheek and continued down my throat, heading for my cleavage. I gulped and felt a shiver go down my spine. He chuckled softly and then his eyes turned sneaky.

"Well if you like this, just wait!" He returned to his bag.

"You mean there's actually more?" I asked surprised. Well let's hope it's not a CD.

"Happy Birthday" he picked up a big box and handed it to me. I smiled widely at him and opened it.

"OH MY GOD!" He had continued on the Wonder Woman theme. "A wonder woman CAKE!" My mouth was wide opened and I couldn't take my eyes of it. "It's… It's… absolutely beautiful!" Ranger actually laughed out loud this time.

"I don't know any other women who can get as exited over cake as you can"

"Oh believed me, they would if they got a cake like this!" I looked up at him and smiled.

"You're amazing, you know that?" What did I just say? There just was no stopping me today. Shit shit shit. A surprised look flashed his eyes for a second, then they turned worm.

"I'm not the amazing one here" he whispered slowly while his thumb stroked my chin. "Now go get some plates." I went over to the kitchen.

"You want a piece?"

"Sure why not" Well lightning strikes again I thought to myself. Batman actually having cake.

"You are just full of surprises aren't you? First presents than eating cake! What happened to the whole body-is-a-temple-thing?"

"Even the temple has its' days off. And about me being surprising… let me just say you have no idea" Oh boy. I chose to not answer that. I reentered the room carrying two plates and spoons. We cut the cake, but not before I had the chance to take a picture of it, I mean come on how often do you get a cake like that? We sat together on the couch, silently eating and watching TV for a while.

"How did you know I was alone?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's my birthday, most people don't just spend them home alone. How did you know Mary Lou cancelled on me?" I was actually curious.

"I just knew Babe" Hmpf… not the answer I was looking for.

"Oh you think you know just about eeeverything about me don't you?"

"About you? Hey, I don't think… I _know_. He sent me a 200-watt smile.

"Oh yeah?" I felt myself getting steamed up. Boy was I gonna prove him wrong.

"Yeah" He just kept grinning. That was it! I'm taking him down! And I mean that in a non-sexual way… not that those are bad.

"Let's see then, let's put you to the test, just how much you know about Stephanie Plum."

"Sure thing Babe, but just so you know, I _am _gonna winn this" his eyes were like chocolate. Oooh my.

We put our cake plates on the table and changed our position in the couch so we faced each other, both trying to give the other one their most evil Clint-Eastwood-deadly-eye-stare. I have to admit his was slightly better go figure. We both sat quiet as I figured out what questions I was going to ask. What is there really to know about me? That the entire Trenton already didn't know about that is…

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	4. the test

_Thanks for the great reviews, you all make me blush! ;) (oh and please don't stop hehe)_

_Fourth part, I hope you like it!_

_ **Disclaimer** : I don't own anything. Oh, and I can't spell (at least not in english) _

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**We both sat quiet as I figured out what questions I was going to ask. What is there really to know about me? That the entire Trenton already didn't know about that is…**

* * *

"Okay, you ready?" He grinned. 

"As ready as I'll always be Babe. Hit me." he smiled his wolfgrin.

"What's my two biggest weaknesses food wise?"

"Even if I don't count this as food I know you do, Tasty cakes and Pineapple upside down cake" Okay easy question but correct.

"When did I lose my virginity?" Bold question. But he probably knew.

"Age 18, to Morelli. But hey, all you need to do is read the things written on the walls in every public bathroom around Trenton to know that." He smirked.

"You go to public bathrooms?" I teased. He chuckled

"Next question" Well well, maybe he_ is_ human after all.

"Favorite music?" If he says Linkin' Park I will give up all hope in men.

"Classic rock. Like Metallica or Springsteen. But you like to dance around in your apartment to 80's pop." How the hell did he know that? No wait! I can't let that throw me of guard.

"Second favorite movie?" No point in asking the favorite, he knew it was Ghostbusters.

"Wizard of Oz" Damn… I didn't think he'd get that one.

"What's the first thing I do when I wake up?"

"You drink too much coffee and then you hit the shower." Well let's just say I'm not a morning person unlike Batman here.

"What was my mothers nr one thing to yell at me when I was a kid?"

"Stephanie Plum come down from the roof right this second! You always tried to fly and ended up breaking a leg." He looked deep into my eyes. His gaze felt worm, respectful and amused at the same time. But damit he was just getting everything right here. Time to bring out the big guns.

"Fine! What did Mary Lou call me when we were younger?" He went still, apparently thinking very hard.

"That… I actually don't know. Stephie?"

" AHA I got you!" I let out in an exultant cry clapping my hands.

"Well enjoy it while it lasts. It's still seven right to one wrong so don't get to exited" he said smiling. "But tell me, what did she call you?"

"She called me Plumsy… it was kind of a mix between Plum and clumsy." I smiled at the memory and Ranger let out a full blast laughter, surprising both himself and me.

"That's probably the best thing I've ever heard! Plumsy haha! So you were clumsy back then to?"

"You bet, probably even worse than I'm now!" I was really enjoyed this. Not really the questioning itself, but seeing Ranger so… relaxed was an experience out of the ordinary. But it's a little scary how much he knows about me. I mean Joe doesn't even know what music I like and that's an easy one… basic stuff. Plus I've known him my entire life. I've only known Ranger a few years and he already knows me better. Because even tough moste of these questions were kind of easy and there's tons of other things I could ask him, I know there's no point in doing it. I already knew that he knew the answer to most of them.

"Well then. What's my worst nightmare?" I'm not sure I could answer that myself. He sat quiet for a moment then he looked me straight in the eyes.

"Your worst nightmare is to become like your mother. A Burg housewife. To stay home all day long taking care of ungrateful children, cooking dinner for your husband who's out and up to no good, who knows all the recipes by heart and irons all her troubles away. Basically feeling stuck. You need freedom to feel alive." I just stared at him. Not only was that the most thing I probably ever heard him say, but also he just managed to put down everything I couldn't say into words. There was no point in denying it any more. He does know me… better than most probably.

"Okay I give up! You know way too much about me!" I leant back in the sofa, closing my eyes and running my hands trough my hair. "You probably even know what color my underwear are". Did I just say that? I felt his weight move as he leaned over me. I opened my eyes and saw his eyes going up and down my body as his hand reached for my pants. His finger crocked the edge and pulled it out as he looked at my new panties underneath.

"Well, they appear to be red" he said husky. Suddenly I was very aware of everything around me, his hand at the edge of my pants, his body hovering over me and his darkening eyes. A jolt of desire went trough my body and I held by breath, not daring to move. But then I felt his smell of Bulgari and my desire grew into a need. A need to touch him. I lifted my hands up placing them on his muscular chest, feeling my way up to his face. His eyes went dark and before I could do anything else Ranger released his weight on me and kissed me passionately. I felt my heart rate speed up as his hands traveled the longs of my body, caressing my thighs, breasts, stomach… they were everywhere. I kissed my way down his throat and put my toung against his neckline. A moan escaped his lips before he tilted my head back up into another breath taking kiss. As I began to pull his t-shirt out of his pants to get access to his naked mocha latte skin, I froze. Morelli had just stepped into my mind. FUCK! I still hadn't made up my mind about him, which made this all wrong! Ranger sensed my sudden change and he stopped moving. I could feel him sigh deeply. I couldn't blame him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered quietly, not able to look at him. He sat up and pulled me up with him, straightening his clothes. Then he brushed a light kiss against my forehead and leaned back against the rest. I picked up my plate, snuggled up against his worm chest and ate the rest of the cake. We sat there, snuggling and watched some lame movie for a while before my eyelids started to feel heavy. I remembered thinking; this wasn't such a bad birthday after all to myself before dosing off.

I woke up when somebody put me down on my bed. I opened my eyes slightly and saw Ranger lean over me.

"You better work out those guilt problems with Morelli soon. I'm not gonna be a gentleman forever you know." He brushed a kiss on my lips. Then he was gone.

* * *

_Okay I know, the questions she asked was really lame, but it actually was harded than I thought to come up with something that the entire Trenton didn't already know about ;) But hey, look on the bright side, no cliff this time!  
_

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	5. dinner with Joe

_As always, thanks for the reviews:)  
_

_And a special thanks to you who pointed out the hilarious typo I've been making all this time, writing w**o**rm instead of w**a**rm! I can't stop laughing when I think about it! "Rangers w**o**rm body" HAHA it's too funny! But i promise, there will be no more discribing Ranger as a slimy insect ;) _

_I hope you enjoy the fifth part! And I don't own anything!_

_

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_

I woke up at 9.30 and dragged myself out of bed, heading straight for the coffee pot. Damn Ranger was right, too much coffee then a shower. Maybe I should do something different? go crazy, take a walk on the wild side… yep, today I was taking the shower first! Take that Batman!

When I got out of the shower I almost ran into the kitchen to get my hands on some coffee. Maybe this walking on the wild side wasn't gonna last after all. What's for breakfast then? Frosties? Pop Tarts? I opened the refrigerator and laid eyes on something beautiful… the cake! This is probably the best thing about birthdays and Christmas… the leftovers! I took out the cake and cut myself a nice big piece. Aah, coffee and Wonder Woman cake… breakfast just doesn't get any better than this.

After I finished eating and got dressed I went trough the agenda of the day. First I had call in to the office for some skip update. Since things were going slow chances were that there would be no skips today. After that, I had to go to my parents' house for lunch. The only way I could get out of dinner last night was to promise I'd come for lunch today. Other than that, dinner with Joe was the only thing planned. I was really looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I went to a fancy restaurant… especially with Joe. I picked up my cell and called Connie.

"Hey Steph" she answered cheerfully.

"Hey Connie. I'm just calling to see if you've gotten any skips for me yet?"

"No sorry, not a single one. People aren't just breaking the law as much these days"

"Well they should, I got rent to pay and cookies to buy." I muttered. Lucky I had distraction jobs for times like these.

"To bad we can't make them miss their court dates" I let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, that would be something. Well, gotta go! I might stop by later today. Bye!"

"I'll see you then, bye!"

Well then I guess there's nothing left to do but head over to the old folks. Huge mental sigh. Maybe there's something important on TV that I just _have_ to se first. You know, world breaking news or and episode of Family guy, I better check. Yep, Ren & Stimpy! Can't miss that can you.

An hour later I pulled up to my parents driveway, I saw mom and grandma Mazur in the window waiting for me. Well here we go.

"Congratulations sweetie!" My mom called out pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks mom"

"Why didn't you bring Joseph along with you?" So it began.

"Because he's working mom" I rolled my eyes.

"I saw that young woman! Well he has got to eat lunch doesn't he? Why couldn't he spend it here?" Oh god why, WHY was I born in the Burg?

"Mom, Joe and I are _not_ together any more" at least not officially.

"Oh don't be silly Stephanie, tell him to come along next time!" she retreated to the kitchen.

"Well Joe's good, but I wanna know where you got the army guy with the great package?" Grandma asked me licking her lips. Eeeew! Not that I didn't understand her.

"I don't know, probably of shipping someone to a third world country" her eyes got big.

"Wow, I saw something about that on CNN the other day. They chopped up people into small bits and shipped them off in tiny boxes to other countries to sell as regular meat."

"Ew, that's disgusting! Are you sure that was CNN and not… candid camera or something?"

"Pretty sure" She said happily.

"Well I'm sure that's not what Ranger does" pretty sure at least.

"Bummer! Maybe he could have gotten me a job as a shipper, boy would I have some gossip to bring to the beauty parlor then" She wondered of into the kitchen. Sometimes I wonder if she and my mother really are related. It seems too impossible to be true most of the time.

My dad was in his usual corner, todays paper covering his face. But when I entered the room he actually lowered the paper a bit, looking over the edge. And then he smiled at me with a warm look in his eyes. I guessed that was his way of saying Happy birthday, I smiled back at him. Then the paper was back up and everything back to normal. It was small, very small, but it made the whole lunch worth dealing with.

I was out of my parents' house at 2 pm, my hands full of leftover bags. Now I had two cakes, a pineapple upside down cake and some lasagna leftovers. I wont have to buy any food for days! YEY! But then again, don't be so sure… after all, my name is Stephanie Plum. I would probably be in some pastry shop tomorrow morning.

I stopped by the office, chatting with Lula and Connie and eating donuts for a while. Apparently Lulas' hot date was hot on the outside but close to and imbecile on the inside, but that didn't stop her from dating him, they were going out again tonight. But hey what do you expect? She's a woman, any sane woman would keep seeing a gorgeous-hunk-imbecile… at least until all your girlfriends and enemies, like Joyce Bernheart, hade seen you together. After too many donuts, according to my hips, not to my appetite, I headed back to my apartment to get ready for the dinner with Joe.

After the shower I did the shaving-thing and the lotion-thing, in hopes of making my skin smooth as a babys'. After that I put on some makeup, aiming for elegant instead of hoochy. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get my hair to cooperate and eventually succeeded after twisting it up into my most elegant hairdo (which actually isn't all that elegant but hey, my hair is a bush you can't expect all that much) and I was finally satisfied.

I had decided to wear a longer version of the little-black-dress and some black strappy sandals that had the perfect heal height, not FMP's high but not flats. When I viewed the result in the mirror I was actually pleased. I looked nice. Okay good. Then I heard a knock on my door. Peering to the keyhole I saw a stunning Morelli standing outside. He was wearing a dark blue tux and a gorgeous tie. His face was shaved and his hair looked better than usual. To speak clearly, he looked like sex on a stick. I gulped and opened the door.

"Hi Joe" He was leaning against the doorframe. His eyes wandered up and down by body and went al chocolaty. Uh oh.

"Damn Steph" he took at step closer, not taking his eyes of me "you look… amazing." He pulled me towards him and kissed me very lightly at the base of my neck. Great, now my knees were Jello. I pushed myself away from him, a few more moments and we might not have made it to dinner.

"So are we going or what?" I smiled

"Sure thing cupcake" He placed his hand at my lower back and led me to the elevator.

He took me to Chantelles, one of the finest restaurants in Trenton, maybe he had sensed his present wasn't completely right and wanted to make up for it. Well either that or he desperately wanted to get into my pants.

As we sat down I couldn't stop smiling and looking around. When we got our menus I let out a small giggle. Joe looked at me amused.

"What's with the giggling?"

"It's so fancy! I can't stop smiling. Or worry that I'm gonna do something extremely clumsy and embarrass myself completely." I whispered. He leaned forward

"Frankly I'm a bit worried about that myself" he winked at me.

I opened my menu, hoping to find something delicious but quickly forze in my tracks... almost everything on the menu had a French name, and I so don't speak French. Okay I could say "Ona servesa por favour", no wait… that was Spanish. Language had never been my strong side. Okay I knew Italian but that was different, that's in my blood. Plus I knew the rude hand gestures better than the words. Suddenly I realized that eventually I'd have to order, which not only meant I had to find something I knew what it was, but also pronounce it to the waiter. Fuck! I looked up at Joe who seemed to share my thoughts, starring down on the menu with a confused frown on his forehead.

"So when did France invade Trenton" I said and smiled at him.

"Not a clue, I most have been sick that day" We both laughed silently.

"But hey, not understanding the menu is a true sign that you at a fancy place, right?"

"Oh most definitely" he went back to the menu. This should be fun I thought to myself, French food is delicious and pronouncing French words wrong is kind of a part of being American. You know, the whole rolling-the-R-thing, totally impossible! I don't know how they do it.

"I would like the uhm… the f… file" I could se Morelli trying not to laugh so hard he was shaking when I tried to order. That bastard.

"You know what, just give me a big stake, something tasty and a great sauce to it okay?" I wasn't gonna let Morelli get the satisfaction of hearing more of my French. The waiter just smiled at me.

"I think we can arrange that" Well apparently I wasn't the first one to order this way.

"And I'll just have the same" Joe said before the waiter disappeared.

"What so I don't even get to hear you try?" I pouted my lip

"Not a chance Cupcake" he chuckled.

"Hey, I don't know if I said it but thank you for brining me here" Suddenly I saw something flash in his eyes, and not a good thing. Worry? Regret? I couldn't figure it out. Then I remembered. He had said he wanted to talk to me about something. Shit.

"Yeah… sure, you don't turn 32 everyday do you?" he smiled uncertain.

"No… you don't" now I was uncertain too. Waiting for him to bring up what ever was going trough his head. But he just sat quiet staring at the table. We rarely had awkward silences but this was definitely awkward. I couldn't take it any longer.

" Just spit it out will you. You said you wanted to talk… so talk, I'm listening" He winced at my sudden words and looked at me nervously.

"Uhm yeah… there's something I need to talk to you about" I had a feeling this wasn't the regular your-job-is-to-risky-discussion. OH GOD! Please say he's _not _proposing! Wait, did I just think that?

"I don't really know were to begin" he continued, "you and I… we are something special you know. We've been at each other since forever, arguing, playing, being friends and… more than friends. I mean everything from chu-chu-train to you running me over with the Buick. We've had some good times together." He cracked a small smile. I nodded towards him so that he would continue. I didn't know where the hell this was heading.

"And lord knows we've had our ups and downs. And we've really tried to make things work… countless times. But it always ends the same, we both want the other one to change, and let's face it, we're both to stubborn to actually change…" He sat quiet for a while not looking me in the eyes. I didn't breath. "We are good together but we are not good _for _each other. Don't get me wrong here, I still love you and you can make me want you so bad it's hurts, without even knowing it…but… for the first time in my life I want more than that." Now he looked me straight in the eyes.

"But…" before I could say anything else he reached out and put his hand on mine.

"Please Steph let me finish, this isn't easy for me" his eyes looked worried and vulnerable.

"I want you to change, to quit your job and move in with me and all that… but I have realized that I can't ask that of you. It's to big a part of you. But that doesn't change the fact that that's the kind of life I want. I have wanted for so long that this would work out but I've come to realize that it never will… and I think we should stop pretending right here, right now."

I sat stunned starring at him. I never ever in my life thought I would here those words come out of Joe Morellis' mouth. I knew he had a point… but did I really want this to end? Also I could see in his eyes that this wasn't all… there was something he wasn't telling me.

"There's more isn't it?" I asked quietly. He froze. I could feel this wasn't going to be good.

"Yes… there is. I've been thinking about this for some time now. And a while back I… I met this woman." I felt anger rushing trough me. That son of a bitch!

"You CHEATED on me?" I stood up in my chair.

"NO! no no no!" Joe also stood up, putting one hand on my arm to calm me down. "Please sit down again and let me explain." Even tough I was on the verge of fury I sat down.

"I didn't cheat on you! A lot of men in the Morelli family are cheating scumbags, but I promise I would never do that to you!" Some how I knew he was telling the truth and began to calm down.

"Then who is the woman you talked about?"

"Her name is Bonnie, she lives outside of N.Y. As I said we met a while back and I liked her right away, she's sweet, pretty, kind, funny… basically she's everything I've ever looked for in a woman. You are the woman I'll always dream of… and I know I will always love you. But she's the kind of woman I wanna spend the rest of my life with. But I haven't touched her yet, I needed to clear things out with you first."

At first jealousy hit me like a blow in the stomach. Who was this bitch and boy was I gonna kill her! But then I heard the warmth in his voice when he talked about her. He really liked this woman. Then I started to think about all the things he had said tonight. He was right, we were good together, but not good for each other. We always wanted to change one another to fit our own states of mind. And I myself had noticed that our relationship had turned more and more into friendship, even tough we still had the hots for each other. Deep down inside I had know this for a long time but not been able to face the facts. Joe and I aren't going to end up together no matter how hard we try. Every word he had said was true, we needed to stop right here right now and move on with our lives. Even if it hurt. Also I wasn't as innocent as I pretended to be. Even tough I love Joe, Ranger were slowly taking up more and more of my thoughts and no matter how much I tried to deny or hide from it, I was falling for him. No, we couldn't go on like this, it was time for a change. I looked up at Joe, he looked like he was waiting for a death penalty.

"You know what… you're right. Even though I've tried to deny it, I have known for a long time that you and me aren't meant to be. I love you, but I'm not _in _love with you. And just as you say, we need to move on with our lives." I saw relief in his eyes I think he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"And even tough it feels weird, I'm actually happy that you found someone you like. You deserve to find a good woman, and I hope everything goes well between you two" I couldn't believe I just said that, but in some weird way it felt right. From the look on Joes face he couldn't believe it either. He got out of his chair and came over to my side.

"Stephanie… you really are amazing" then he kissed me on the lips and for the first time in history… he kissed me in a friendly way. He broke away and looked at me, smiling his biggest smile. Then he whispered

"Thank you for understanding. I love you"

"I love you too." As he went back to his chair the food arrived.

"You know, I was terrified to come here tonight. I was afraid you would slap me and storm out."

"Well you had a reason to, storming out was my first option, not to mention the slaping part of course" I winked at him. He laughed.

"But… we will still be friends right?"

"Of course, we will always be friends, and we'll always be there for each other" his voice was serious and I could feel that he meant it. I smiled.

"But on the other hand, did you really think I was gonna storm out on a stake like this? And without dessert? Fat chance!"

The dinner actually turned out nice, we had more fun than we'd had in a long time. It felt nice.

Morelli and me... friends… go figure huh.

* * *

_I made up the whole "Chantelle is the best resturant in Trenton" part since I don't know about any resturants in Trenton (exept for Pinos' and Shortys')_. 


	6. distraction

_Here's the 6th part! Hope you enjoy!_

_I don't own the story and I'm sorry for all the typos. _

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**Morelli and me... friends... go figure huh.  
**

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The next morning I woke up feeling at ease, even tough a part of me was sad that there would be no more me and Morelli, I was happy that things finally was worked out between us. And even happier that it didn't end with fighting, screaming, empty threats and my heart in pieces. This time I knew that we would stay friends and for the first time in I don't know _how _long, my stomach was calm. There were no psychos stalking me, I would be able to pay my rent and I had no more guilt problems to work out if Ranger tried to kiss me. But that didn't mean everything was fine and dandy, I still had some things to work out with Mr Batman. I still didn't know what he wanted from me. He sent me back to Morelli but keeps on pinning me against walls, I trust him with my life but does he trust me at all? He loves me but "in his own way" And I knew that he cares about me enough to kill for me… but does he care about me enough to let me in under his skin? The questions were many and I had absolutely no intension of sleeping with him until I had answers to all of them. But then again I knew that if he set his mind to it we would be between the sheets within seconds… I had no self-discipline what so ever when it came to that man. 

"I really am pathetic huh?" I said to Rex who was running like a mad person in his little wheel. He stopped and looked at me, shaking his whiskers in agreement than started running again. Just great, even a hamster has more self-discipline than me! I mean when was the last time I went running?

For lunch Mary Lou and me went to Pino's for pizza, it had been way to long! Probably about five days or something!

"Are you sure you're okay about the whole birthday thing? I mean I tried as hard as I could to find a babysitter but every freakin' person in town was busy!" Mary Lou was still feeling bad about standing me up. Probably because she didn't know how the night ended.

"Yes of course I'm fine! It's not your fault you couldn't find a sitter. And you'll make up for it when we go out tomorrow night" We had made plans to celebrate a second birthday for me since we didn't get to dance on my real one.

"You bet I will! And I'm gonna make sure that you will be _so_ drunk and have _so_ much fun that you wont be able to walk home!"

"Don't even go there! Not this time, we went trough that too many times when we were young. I have grown since then!" I tried to sound mature.

"Yeah, and the sky is green. Don't you try to deny it Plumsy, we both know how the night is gonna end" she teased.

"Well okay, we'll get hammered, have a great time and feel like shit the morning after. Just like old times" Mary Lou nodded in agreement and we both got dazed nostalgic looks remembering the good old days.

"You didn't tell me how the night ended by the way, you didn't have to spend it alone did you?" She asked after a while looking worried.

"No I was fine, for a while there I thought I would be all alone… but I got some company later." I avoided telling her exactly who held me company.

"Lula and Connie stopped by?" I shook my head no. "Morelli?" I did the headshake again. "Please tell me you didn't have to go to your parents?" she looked desperate.

"No not this time" then her eyes grew big.

"RANGER! You got to have Ranger keep you company on you birthday?"

"Yeah… apparently he knew it was my birthday and decided to stop by"

"Oh you lucky bitch!" I laughed at her growl. "But if he knew it was your birthday… did he get you anything?" I hesitated, did I tell her or not? Oh what the hell, what are best friends for anyway? I nodded my head again.

"Oh shit, WHAT?" I didn't know if I'd ever seen her that curious. I told her about the present, the cake and the quiz and this time I even told her about the kissing. I almost always kept that to myself. She freaked out and screamed at me, and somehow she figured out that there must be more to the story and I had so _not _expected her to do that. Crap, crap double crap! But I realized that I had no chose but to tell her everything if I wanted to get out of there alive. Everything meaning my and Rangers night together and what happened between Morelli and me last night.

Many hours later I was back at my apartment getting ready for the distraction job. Mary Lou had almost killed me when she found out I'd slept with Ranger and that I hadn't told her about it. Then she milked me for every detail ever going on between us since then. I had tried to keep as much as possible to myself, refusing to tell her anything about our night together other than that it was good and orgasmic. Details about size and positions I kept to myself. She kept pushing me for ages but I managed to tell her a lot without telling her too much. The most private things I wanted to stay private.

I had showered and done my hair and since it was having a good day I decided to keep it down and I had tamed most of the frizzyness into curls. Then I did my makeup, putting on so much eyeliner and mascara I had to fight to keep my eyes open before they got used to it. As a finishing touch I put on some daring red lipstick. The dress I had picked out for the evening matched the lipstick. Daring. It was deep red with halter neck and a band underneath the chest that marked the bust. It was almost too short, showing a little bit too much leg to be okay, but it was perfect for distraction. As I was putting on my FMP's my cell rang.

"Yeah?"

"Yo"

"Yo yourself. I'll be down in a sec"

"Good" then he disconnected. Damn! Someday _I_ would disconnect first!

I grabbed my purse and locked the door. When I got down to the parking lot I saw Ranger, Tank and Lester waiting for me. They all stopped talking and stared at me. I could se Ranger and Tank tense up and Lesters' jaw actually dropped an inch. Wow…

"What's up guys?" the just kept staring. "Okay the dress is short but not _that _short!" There eyes were making me insecure.

"Damn Bombshell! You're on fire!" Lester finally let out smiling at me.

"Well thanks Les. So are we going or what" Lester and Tank went over to their car but Ranger was still leaning against his looking at me.

"What?" I finally asked since he wasn't moving. He stepped towards me and pressed my body against his. He leant down and whispered softly in my ear

"Sometimes you're too sexy for your own good." Then he went over to the driver side of the car and got in. I was still shivering from his words. Mental head slap! Get a grip woman I thought to myself and opened the door. As I got into the car I could se Ranger eyes roaming my legs. Yikes!

During the drive Ranger filled me in on the details about the guy I was distracting. His name was Robert Matthews, 37 years old, wanted for rape, assault and drunk driving. Seems like a nice fella. Ranger wasn't in his usual driving zone, he talked more than usual and his eyes kept wandering to my legs. I knew it was cruel but I couldn't help but slowly rub them against each other just to tease him. I noticed that his arms were tenser than usual so I knew that it had at least some effect. Mental happy dance!

"Okay you know the drill, we'll be out front waiting." He said as we pulled over. I nodded and he picked up the mic to tape it to my skin. This was always a nerve wrecking moment since Ranger never let me do it myself and instead used it as a chance to stick his hand down my dress and make my stomach turn in to Jell-O.

"You know I can do that myself" I said softly as his fingers touched my skin. His lips curved in to an almost-smile.

"Yeah I know… but it's more fun this way." He looked me straight in the eyes when he said the words. Then his attention returned south. His hand traveled his way down my cleavage and attached the mic but instead of removing his hand after that it lingered. He gently brushed his fingertips against the swell of my breast and didn't dare to breath since the chance that I would let out a moan was big. When he got closer my nipple I lost track for a second and accidentally closed my eyes. He chuckled lightly and removed his hand. Damn! I had decided not to let him see how he effected me… I don't think I could have failed more. He leant over an kissed me softly on the lips.

"There's a lot more were that came from Babe" he grinned and stepped out of the car. FUCK! Why was he always one step ahead of me? I swear to god that I will deny that man at least ONCE in my life! Only once and I would be satisfied. After coming to that conclusion I stepped out of the car.

When I got in the club I scanned the place for Matthews. He was sitting at the end of the bar starring at every chest he saw like the disgusting creature he was. I could see that he'd already had a lot to drink, which was all the better for me. I put on my act and went to work. I stomped up to the bar taking a seat, leaving one chair between us, pretending to be very angry and upset.

"Give me a Vodka on the rocks" I told to the bartender. "And keep 'em coming". The Merry Men had already been inside talking to the bartender, informing him to make all my drinks alcohol free since I wasn't a big drinker. He handed me two glasses.

"Rough night?" I tasted the "Vodka". Yep it was water.

"You have no idea! I came home finding my shitty boyfriend screwing some sleazy blond on my kitchen table! Can you imagine… my_ own _kitchen table!" Who says you can't use the truth?

"Wow, that really is rough" the bartender said before he turned to help someone else. I emptied the first glass and made a pretend this-is-so-disgusting-face.

"Fucking idiot asshole!" I mumbled under my breath, loud enough for Matthews to hear. In the corner of my eye I could see that I had got his attention. I emptied the other glass. Then I turned my head looking at him. He smiled a disgusting smile and I smiled back, looking at him from head to toe, pretending to like what I saw. He seemed to take that as invitation enough since he moved over to the chair next to me. Ew, he smelled bad too.

"Hi, I'm Robert" he put out is hand.

"I'm Michelle" I said as sweetly as I could while I shook his hand.

"I'm sorry but I couldn't help but overhear what you just said, and let me just say, what a stupid idiot! I mean who would screw another girl when they had a knockout like you in their bed!"

"Well my asshole boyfriend would! What did I do wrong? Am I not pretty enough? Are my boobs to small?" I could imagine Lester laughing out in the car at the boob comment. Matthews gaze traveled down towards my chest.

"Oh no, they're just perfect I can assure you, he just have to be out of his mind" he was still starring at my boobs. Disgusting freak!

"Aw, you're so sweet… you seem like a fine man" I leaned over putting my hand on top of his. "Very fine" I gave him the I-want-you-SO-bad-look.

"Yeah, I could treat you good." He put one hand on my thigh. I edged closer to him.

"I don't doubt that you would"

"Say…" he looked around the room. "You wanna get out of hear? Go some place more quiet?"

"I'd love too" In your dreams dickface! "My car is out front, let's go" he said and stood up.

I got up and we started moving towards the entrance. Yes! I didn't even have to kiss him to get him outside, I must be getting better at this. Or slutier, depending on how you see it. Right now I just wanted to get home, take a shower, put on my pajamas, eat some of my wonderful cake and watch a movie. When we almost were outside he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a little empty corridor, pinning me to the wall. Then he shoved his tongue down my throat. Damn! And I thought I wouldn't have to do this. This was the worst part, kissing a disgusting creep, who has his hands all over you and pretend to like it. I moaned a little so that he would think I was in to it. He put my hands above my head and held them in a steady grip that I couldn't get out of. Then he stopped kissing me and shoved his hand down my dress and ripped up the microphone, throwing it on the floor and stepped hard on it so broke in pieces. SHIT.

"Don't you think I know what you're doing? Don't you think you know who you are?" Oh fuck! He knew exactly what I was doing and held my arms so hard in his grip that I had no chance in getting loose. On top of it all Ranger didn't know what was going on.

"You're that bounty hunter bitch that works for the army guy! You've put some really important friends of mine in jail." Oh no! He's gonna kill me! He is actually gonna kill me. I started to scream and wriggle the best I could to get out of his grip but he hit me hard in the face.

"Shut up bitch!" he hit me again, this time in the stomach and I lost my breath. "Shut the fuck up!" I tried to knee him in the groin but he saw it and stepped aside. He hit me in the face again and threw me down on the floor. The next thing I knew he was pointing a gun at me.

"If you try anything else I'll blow you fucking head off! Get it gorgeous?" I could feel blood and tears running down my face. He bent down next to me, pulling my hair.

"You thought you could trick me didn't you? But I have to admit, for a second there you almost had me" he started to lick my face. "You like that, don't you" That was it. I screamed as loud as I could.

"I thought I told you to sh…" before he could finish the sentence someone knocked him hard in the head and he fell to the ground. Ranger came into my vision, pulling me on to his lap.

"Are you okay?" this time I actually saw worry in his eyes.

"Yeah… I'm fine. We caught the guy right?" I smiled weakly. In the background I saw Tank and Lester hauling Matthews out to the car, not being to careful with his unconscious body if you know what I mean.

"I'm… I'm so sorry Babe, this shouldn't have happened. I should have protected you and…"

"But Ranger you _did_ protect me, otherwise I would be dead by now." I gently stroked his face. He seemed to ease up a bit and put his hand to my chin. I winced at the contact.

"Damnit you're not alright. I need to take you to a hosp…"

"No Ranger! I'm fine! It's just bruises, what I need is for you to take me home." I looked him straight in the eyes so that he would understand that I was okay. "Please". He stared at me for a while and seemed to reassure himself that I would be fine. He wiped the tears of my face.

"Okay I'll take you home" He lifted me up and carried me out to the cars where Tank and Lester were waiting.

"You okay Bombshell?" They both looked worried.

"I'm okay. It's just some bruises, I'll be fine in the morning."

"If you need anything just call" Tank said before they jumped in the car and drove of.

Ranger carried me all they way up to my apartment.

"I think I can walk for myself you know" I said smiling slightly.

"Better not take any chances". I guess he was feeling bad for what had happened.

When we got inside he finally put me down and I went of to take a shower. When I saw myself I the mirror I started to cry. I had dried blood and makeup everywhere and my hair looked like Frankenstein's. Why me? I asked myself. I felt like my mother. When I got out of the shower I put on my jammies and sat down on my couch. Ranger had made me a sandwich and handed it to me as he sat down on the other end.

"Thanks" I took a big bite. As we sat there neither of us spoke and for every minute passing by I was getting more and more angry… at myself.

"Are you sure you're okay" Ranger seemed to have noticed the tension building up inside me. I jumped off the couch and started wandering back and forth in my apartment.

"I'm so god damn sick of this!" I let out.

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't do a better job at…"

"That's not what I mean! Hell if it wasn't for you and the other guys I would've been killed a hundred times over by know! What I mean is I'm so fucking tired of not being able to defend myself. As soon as someone tries something I'm helpless… and I can't keep taking for granted that you are gonna save me every time." I was rambling and almost running back and forth in my frustration. "Maybe Joe and my mom was right… I'm not cut out for this. Maybe I _should _be working at some god damn button factory…" I stopped in my tracks, slouching down on the floor and leant against the wall. Ranger bent down in front of me and grabbed my arms.

"Don't say that cause you know it's not true. Okay I admit you weren't the best bounty hunter in the beginning but you're a lot better now! I promise you that"

"And the sad thing is even tough I've gotten better I still can't defend myself in an easy situation like this…" I said dejected.

"Steph, even I can't handle every situation on my own, that's why I have Tank and all the other guys. That's why _you _have us."

"But you don't need help in every got damn situation like I do" tears started coming down my face again. "Don't you think I know how much money I've cost you? How many of you men I've sent to the hospital, how many of you expensive cars I've blown up… or how many times I've endangered, not only my life but _yours_. I bring a lot more trouble than I'm worth."

"Do you think I would still be around if that was how I felt? Do you think I'd still do those things if I didn't think you were worth it?" he was getting angry.

"Well I don't know"

"Have you ever thought about that I may actually like being there for you?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know anything about how you feel? You're like a closed book god damnit… what exactly _do_ you feel?" everything was pouring out of me.

"What do you mean?" I stood up.

"You send me back to Morelli but keeps on kissing me, you keep lending me cars even tough I blow them up and you know way to much about me and still I know almost nothing about you. What exactly do you want from me?" We just stood there, starring at each other for what seemed like forever.

"Babe… we've talked about this…" he began.

"NO we haven't! Because if we had I wouldn't be bringing it up." All the emotions I had seen earlier in his eyes were gone and the mask was back on.

"Steph… I've told you how my life…"

"Doesn't lent itself to relationships, I know! But then _why_ do you keep kissing me?" And just when I thought I was going to get some answers… his cell rang. He flipped it open and I sighed and went in to my bedroom. But I could still hear the conversation.

"Talk. Yeah… I'll be there in ten" then he hung up. I was sitting on my bed with my face in my hands. Ranger appeared at the door.

"I gotta go. But I'll swing by tomorrow with your fee from the distraction."

"Yeah… See you then." I said dejected and he was gone. The moment to get Ranger to talk had passed anyway.

As I sat there I realized how tired I was and how badly I wanted to sleep. As I went back in the living room to hit the lights I saw my answering machine blinking. It was Mary Lou.

"Hey Honey, just calling to remind you about our night out tomorrow! You better have a cute dress picked out because you are going to be dancing your ass off, every guy in place is going to be drooling all over you. God I'm SO exited! I can't wait until tomorrow night! Oh well, sleep tight and I'll see you soon."

I couldn't help but smile, she was the best friend you could ever get. And boy were we gonna have some fun. Ricardo Carlos Manoso… Get ready to eat you heart out!"

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_Okay I know these last two chapters have been kind of boring and I'm sorry about that! I hope you will find the next one more fun! At least I'm having fun writing it ;)_  



	7. love?

_Thank you all for the great reviews!_

_Okay this part is a little shorter than I usually write, but that's only because I decided to devide the chapter in two, thought you all could use a little break from those 4000 words chapters so that no one would get tired of reading :)_

_Hope you all enjoy! _

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**I couldn't help but smile, she was the best friend you could every get. And boy were we gonna have some fun  
Ricardo Carlos Manoso... get ready to eat your heart out! **

* * *

It was Saturday night and I was in the shower, getting ready for Mary Lou's and my night out. I was really looking forward to it. Just as I was washing the shampoo out of my hair, in the middle of singing "Girls just wanna have fun" I heard my phone ring. SHIT! I hated this. I turned of the water and jumped out of the shower, almost slipping. I grabbed a towel but didn't have time to stop and wrap myself in it, instead I ran to get the phone in time. I got into the kitchen and slid the last few feet to the phone. But just as every other time you pick up the phone _exactly_ when the person on the other line decides to hang up. Great, all that running for nothing. Then I felt the tiny hairs on my neck stand up... uh oh, that usually only meant one thing. I spun around and saw Ranger leaning against the back of my couch looking amused. FUCK! I was standing naked and wet from the shower… in front of Ranger. God must really hate me right now.

"Nice outfit Babe" he grinned at me. Then his gaze traveled the length of my body and his eyes went dark. Oh crap. I was frozen to the spot, you know when your mind is screaming MOVE but your body seem to totally how forgotten how to move a muscle. And my towel was on the floor. He pushed himself of the couch and stepped closer. I finally snapped out of my trance and quickly snatched the towel of the floor and wrapped it around me.

"Hey don't get shy on my account... I kind of enjoyed the view." Damn that wolfgrin of his.

"Fuck you Ranger" I turned to walk away but he grabbed my wrist.

"Not so fast" he jerked me around so I faced him again. "Here's your fee for last night" he held up a check and folded it up, then he stepped closer and slipped the check in my cleavage. Bold… very bold. I felt my face turn warm. My gaze went from his hand to his eyes. Then he closed the space between us and threw me in one of those breath-taking-toe-curling-knee-weakening type of kisses. He was _such_ a good kisser I thought to myself. All of a sudden he had lifted me up into his arms and carried me into my bedroom. Wait what was going on? Was Ranger planning on going all the way this time? Oooh shit. I'd become so used to him breaking it off after a while that I wasn't really prepared for this. He laid me down on the bed and settled him self on top of me. His lips never left mine. God this felt good. But I shouldn't be doing this… there were too many issues we needed to work on.

"Ranger… stop" he left my mouth but started to kiss his way down my neck instead. Shivers went trough my body, god this was hard"

"Why?" He just kept kissing me.

"Because I tell you to"

"You want me to stop this…" he gently kissed me behind my ear "or this" he nibbled my earlobe. No I didn't.

"Yes" that came out more of a moan than I was hoping.

"Yeah, I can hear that Babe" he chuckled. Alright that was IT! I put my hands against his chest and pushed him of me as hard as I could. Since he wasn't prepared for the push I actually managed to get him off me. I got up as fast as I could and turned around.

"I said STOP okay!" I had never seen him as surprised as he looked right now "You can't just keep doing this! Because no matter what idea you have about me I don't sleep with people just to have sex. I sleep with someone when I care about them and we have something special" I turned around and grabbed some underwear from my drawer and let the towel fall the floor, not caring that he saw me naked this time. I started to put on the underwear "And since you've made it VERY clear that you want nothing _but _sex from me, I'm not going to sleep with you. Now if you excuse me I have to get ready because I'm going out with Mary Lou tonight"

I stormed out there and into my bathroom, my adrenalin pumping like crazy. Oh my god! I just did it! I just _denied_ Batman! I couldn't stop smiling! I, Stephanie Plum, had just written history! I was probably the first woman ever to deny Ranger sexually. Maybe there was a little Wonder Woman in me after all. That feeling was better then ten Ranger caused orgasms… okay maybe not, but it was a good substitute. After a while I heard my door close so I guessed he was gone. Good, Mary Lou was coming over in a minute and I didn't want to focus on anything but having a fun night, so I pushed every thought about Ranger out of my head.

An hour later Mary Lou and I was getting ready for our night out together. We had opened a bottle of wine and were giggling like schoolgirls as we were helping each other pick out outfits. It almost felt like we were 18 again.

"What about your red dress?" Mary Lou asked

"No, I wore it yesterday at distraction, besides you can see my panties in it"

"And that's a bad thing?" I gave her a glare and she started laughing.

"What about this one?" I held up a Safire green dress

"That's perfect! You will look so gorgeous in it! Every single guy will hit on you… and probably some married ones too"

"You're out of your mind" I laughed and hit her with the dress. "But you're right, this is the dress… my boobs look big in it."

"Well then it's definitely the one." She winked at me.

A few hours later we were wobbling our way down the street giggling.

"But how do you really feel about the whole Morelli thing? Aren't there any bitter feelings at all?" These kind of things is best to discuss when you're a bit tipsy, you can say what ever you want and if you say too much you can always blame the wine.

"Surprisingly I'm not that bitter. I mean of course it feels weird but I've finally realized that I don't love him… even though I always thought I'd always have him as an option. You know… that he would always want me... and now he has found a new woman. Well that just shows that you never should take anything for granted"

"Hey he surprised everybody, we all thought you two would end up together… until Batman showed up at least."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you'd have to be blind not to see the connection between you and Ranger. You know there's a reason why Joe never could relax when he knew you were with him. He was so scared that you would leave him for Ranger… 'cause as I said, anyone could see the attraction between you. And guess what, he was right" I stopped.

"Now hold it just a second! I didn't leave Joe for Ranger" I was pointing a shaky finger at her.

"Not officially no… but he definitely had something to do with it."

"No no no, I left Joe 'cause he didn't accept me the way I am, he always wanted to change me. Besides, he left me remember."

"No, he just said the words out loud. I can promise you that if there had been no Ranger in the picture, you guys would be married by now. Probably have children and everything and don't try to argue with me! You know just as well as me that you love Ranger just the way you loved Joe in the beginning." She started walking again.

"Wow, wait a minute you think I love Ranger? I care about him yes, I'm attracted to him yes, I mean who wouldn't be? But love? " My hesitation suprised even myself "... no."

"Is that right?" She just smiled mockingly at me.

"Yes! And I am going to show you tonight just _how_ open I am to meeting new guys" Hm maybe I was more drunk than I thought.

"Bring it on honey" she smiled at me and we walked off giggling into the night.


	8. drunk

_As always for the great reviews!_

_Here's the 8h part, sorry for any typos! And I don't own anything. _

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**"Yes! And I am going to show you tonight just _how_ open I am to meeting new guys" Hm maybe I was more drunk than I thought.**

**"Bring it on honey" she smiled at me and we walked off giggling into the night.**

* * *

Too many drinks and many dances later I was having the time of my life. Mary Lou and I had been dancing like crazy, guys had been flirting with us and the drinks had been delicious. One bartender had given me his number and hadn't even been trying to get it! We were on top of the world. 

"Hey Steph!" Mary Lou yelled over the music

"Yeah?"

"My feet are killing me, can we take a break?"

"Yeah sure!" When went and sat down at a small table. After a few minutes the bartender who'd given me his nr approached us.

"Here you go ladies, compliments of the house" he sat down two Strawberry Daiquiris on the table. Yey!

"Oh thank you so much! These are SO delicious!" I blurted out happily. He winked at me and walked off.

"Girl you're on fire tonight" Mary Lou said laughing.

"I told you I was open to meeting new guys"

"Well to be honest you haven't really been proving that" she took a sip from her drink

"What? I got that guys number! That's something!"

"But you didn't _try_ to get his number, there's a big difference"

"So you're saying I'm gonna have to flirt and beg for it to count?" I was seeing two of my drink right now.

"That's what I'm saying" she smiled.

"Well then I'm just gonna have to get back out on the dance floor don't I! You just schit back and watch the master at work" Wow did I just slur?

"Yeah, go show me what you can do" Somewhere in the back of my head I knew that Lou was laughing at me and not with me, but I didn't care at the moment. Instead I wobbled of to find a guy. I got out on the floor and started to dance, trying to be aware of my surroundings… my surroundings being how many cute guys I could spot. Suddenly I felt someone poke my shoulder, I turned around but didn't see anyone. Then I looked down and saw a little guy smiling his most sleazy smile at me. Why was it always the short guys? Did they like to feel dominated or what was the deal? And why was it always the guys with unbuttoned silk shirt, a carpet of chest hair, back slick hair and sleazy smile. I don't know about you but I could never be comfortable with a guy who wore more gold jewelry than I. I turned away from him and started to dance again. Then I finally saw the back of what seemed to be a very promising body, oh I mean man. As I started to get close I realized that the backside seemed familiar. Wait a minute… I knew that backside. It was Tank! Poor fella, he was dancing with a girl you couldn't stop staring at him, a typical I-can't-believe-I'm-dancing-with-such-a-hot-guy-stare. He didn't look too comfortable so I decided it was okay to intervene. I danced up next to him and tapped him on the shoulder. When he looked over I smiled my biggest smile, he light up and turned towards me.

"Hey Bombshell! What are you doing here?"

"I'm celebrating a second birthday with Mary Lou"

"Well happy second birthday then" he gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I could see that the girl he had been dancing was sending me a death glare. Yikes! I leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"You need help with getting away from Miss Muscle Struck over there?"

"Yes please!" I spun around towards the girl.

"Uh-uh, sorry hun but this one's spoken for!" I gave here Ricki Lake look and pouted my lips before grabbing Tank's arm and pulled him of the dance floor. When we got to a table Tank was laughing so hard that he was having trouble standing up.

"And that my friend is how it's done"

"Never knew you had it in you"

"Well you'd be surprised" I winked at him.

"Hey Bomber what are you doing here?" I turned around and got a big hug from Lester.

"I'm saving Tank from scary girls. But I think the real question is what are you guys doing here? I mean this is a club… there is a chance you might have fun here. Are you aloud to have fun?" They both laughed this time.

"Every once in a while we sneak out of the cave to get some fresh air"

"Ah sneaking out leaving the bossman at home, you guys better watch yourself or you might get detention…or worse, security room duty!" I let out a pretend horror gasp.

"Naa, Ranger doesn't come along often. But it does happen"

"There you are, for a while there I thought you had snuck out" Mary Lou made her way through the crowd, carrying our drinks.

"No no, just found some men in need. Oooh schank you!" I slurred when she gave me my drink.

"Wow Steph, how many of those have you had?" Lester asked amused.

"Well I can't help that the bartender is in love with me" I tried to sound innocent.

"So he just gave you a bunch of cocktails?"

"What can I say, I'm fabulous" I smiled my most seductive smile. Tank started laughing again.

"You sure are cocky sometimes"

"Well I'm drunk, what's your excuse?" Mary Lou raised her hand to a high-five

"Score Steph – 1, Tank – 0"

"Uh-oh I better take you out on the dance floor before Tank decides if that was rude or not" Lester said grabbing Mary Lou and pulled her out on the floor. She didn't look like she mind at all, on the contrary the looked very pleased. Well who could blame her, she was dancing with the hottest guy on the floor and every girl out there was jealous of her.

"You know, Les thinks she's quite a knock-out" Tank said and nodded towards Lou.

"To bad the whole husband and children thing is in the way"

"Hehe yeah." We sat quiet for a while until Tank broke the silence.

"Any chance you saw Ranger earlier today?" He had a strange look in his eyes. Or at least I think so, things were beginning to spin quite well by now.

"Yeah, he stopped by my apartment earlier… to give me the fee for yesterday"

"Yeah I figured... what the hell did you do to him?" What was he talking about?

"Wadda you mean?"

"You must have done something to the man" Now I was getting confused

"Tank can you please stop speaking in riddles, if you haven't noticed my mind is a little schlow tonight" he chuckled.

"Well at least your ability to speak is" I gave him the Burg glare.

"Will you get to the point!"

"When Ranger came back tonight he was like a freakin' thundercloud, you must have done something to make him pissed like that."

"He was pissed?" Well, well, well this was getting interesting.

"Yeah, I'm talking screaming orders at everybody, slamming doors and all that. So what did you do to him?"

"What makes you think I did something? For all we know he could have been some other place too"

"Bombshell I've known Ranger almost all my life and there are very, and I mean _very_, few things that makes him lose control but you are definitely one of those things. And you're probably the first woman ever to make him lose control. So don't try to act all innocent with me, spit it out!" I think my jaw had dropped an inch or two.

"Wooow wait wait wait!" I stood up to quickly and almost lost my balance but Tank grabbed my arm just in time. "What the hell do you mean I make _him _lose control? That man has nothing but self-control around me! I on the other hand can't get a grip of my self! I mean every time he breaks of a kiss it takes me about a minute to realize that he actually has let go of me. But him, oooh no! He doesn't seem to be effected by anything, he's just always aware of the surroundings and bla bla bla" Okay I was rambling.

"Steph are you even listening to yourself? You're missing the point here, you make him lose enough control to actually kiss you! How aware do you think he is of his surroundings when he does that? And about the whole effected part, believe me, his _is_ effected by you, a lot, he's just better at hiding it." I sat quiet for a while staring at him.

"I don't know if I can believe that" Tank sighed and focused on me.

"Does he ever come over without a reason?" I thought of the countless times when he'd stopped by my at apartment for just a few minutes, saying something to throw me off balance... or kiss me to _really_ throw me off balance. Then leaving me without a clue what he wanted.

"Uhm… yeah" I finally admitted.

"There you go, how often do you think he stops by at my place just to chat?"

"Okay Ranger doesn't chat" Tank chuckled.

"You know what I mean. How often do you think he pays me a nightly visit huh?"

"You know about those?" I couldn't help but be surprised, I mean it seemed kind of impossible that Ranger actually would have told him about it.

"As I said, I know the guy. Also I've seen him leave when I've had control room duty… and you know about the trackers on the cars so it isn't exactly a secret where he goes" I was so confused.

"Are you sure about this?"

"totally sure Bomber… even though he doesn't say anything he's feelings is kind of obvious"

"Obvious? _Obvious_? Then would you mind telling me 'cause I sure as hell can't figure it out! He has his damn blank-army-face on every time he's around me"

"How can you not see it? The way he looks at you or the way he drops what ever he is doing to go to you every time you call him? He loves you god damnit!"

"Then why did he send me back to Morelli?" Now it was Tanks turn to look confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if you know this but we did sleep together once and the morning after Ranger told me to go back to Morelli…"

"Wow, he did what?"

"He fucking broke my heart! And I'm not going to take any more shit from him or any body else. And no matter what you say about love he has made it very clear that he only wants sex from me and guess what, that's not good enough" I got up and left the table exactly when Lester and Mary Lou returned. They both looked surprised when I stormed passed them and turned to Tank to get an explanation, but he just stared after me with a puzzled look. I was going to show Ranger, and myself, just how well I could do without him. I didn't need him or Morelli in my life, there a hundreds of other great guys out there and I was going to find at least one of them tonight. I got on the dance floor and started to dance. I danced with a few guys but none of them really got my attention. But then I turned around and locked eyes with a good-looking guy. I mean he was no Ranger or Joe… but he wasn't bad. He smiled seductive at me and I batted my eyelashes. The good thing about being drunk is that you get the guts to dance sexier than usual to get guys attention, if I saw myself dancing like I was doing now with sober eyes I would die of embarrassment. The guy seemed to enjoy my sexydance and moved closer. After a little while we were moving together, hardly leaving an inch between us. The guy was looking me straight in the eyes and gently placed on hand on my hip. Oh if only Ranger could see me now, then he could see just how fine I was without him.

"I'm Daniel" he whispered in my ear.

"I'm Stephanie"

"Gorgeous name on a gorgeous girl" Okay _very _sleazy but what the heck. I smiled back at him. I was beginning to realize how drunk I really was as we were dancing. I was having more and more trouble keeping my balance as I tried to move to the rhythm and kept bumping into Daniel over and over again and from time to time I hade to grab his arm not to fall over. But he didn't seem to mind… on the contrary. We talked a little about this and that as we danced and before I knew it we were so entangled that we probably looked like a couple from "Dirty Dancing".

"You're a very good dancer" he said with a smooth voice.

"Thank you"

"You look so sexy you almost make me lose control" He breathed and placed his hand on my but. I let out a small giggle and his hands started to explore my body more and more. That we were on a public dance floor didn't seem to bother me at the time. But somewhere in the back of my head I was hoping he didn't try anything else. As much as one part of me wanted to get back on Ranger the other part didn't want to sleep with this guy just to prove something. So when his hand started to get a little to close to my breast I gently removed it. When he tried again I removed it a little more firmly but he didn't seem to take the hint since he tried again.

"Hey, let's take it easy okay" I said softly.

"Why?" He smiled and tried to kiss me. I pushed my head back as he got closer.

"No wait, I said…" Before I could finish a voice growled behind me.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you" I looked over my shoulder and saw Ranger staring at Daniel.

"And why is that?" Daniel shot back at him… a little too cocky. Even though Ranger seemed calm on the surface I could see the fury in his eyes. Uh-oh.

"Because she told you to stop"

"And who are you to come here and tell me what to do" I saw the tension building up in Rangers arms. Okay Daniel needed to take it easy or he was gonna end up dead.

"Now wait just a minute" I stepped in between. "Ranger what are you doing here?"

"No Steph, the question is, what are you doing? _Why_ are you doing this?" His voice eased up a little as he spoke to me.

"I'm free to do what ever I want with _who_ ever I want Ranger."

"Is that right? What happened to the whole having something special part?" Okay I could see he was angry… and possibly upset?

"Look Ranger I don't need you to rescue me every time, I can take care of myself you know" I was just about to take a step towards him to really show that I meant what I said. But instead my legs decided I was too drunk and I tripped and almost fell over. As usual Ranger caught me in time and scooped me right back up.

"Don't need me huh?"

"Okay if you didn't notice the lady said she didn't need _your_ help and if you don't mind, we were dancing okay?" Daniel grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. Ranger's eyes went dangerous again and he gave him a look that qualified as an if-looks-could-kill type of looks.

"Look pal, if you want to wake up tomorrow I suggest you never touch her again" Oh boy. I guess Daniel didn't think I was worth it and turned around and left. I couldn't blame him, Ranger could scare the bejeebees out of you.

"Well thanks a lot Ranger, thank you for scaring off the cute guy:" I turned around to walk away but my legs failed me and I almost fell but of course Ranger did the scooping up thing again. Just great.

"Come on Steph you're too drunk, let me take you home"

"I don't need you to take me any were, I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself." Or at least a cab was. I could hear him sigh behind me. I walked over to the others and gave Tank a did-you-do-this-look but he just put up his hands in an I'm-totally-innocent-gesture, yeah right! We both knew that he had called Ranger.

"So how about another round guys?" Everybody started to give each other insecure looks.

"Uhm Steph maybe it's best if we decided to call it a night…" Mary Lou started carefully.

"Oh come on I'm not that drunk" I turned around to get a bartender but instead I slipped on my high heals. Damnit! My legs just weren't cooperation tonight.

"Okay that's it" Ranger stepped up, scooped me up into his arms and started to walk towards the entrance. "I'm taking you home whether you like or not Babe."

* * *

_ I'm not to pleased with this chapter, think I could've done it better, but I hope it was okay. _


	9. skips

_Thanks for the reviews everybody :) _

_I don't own anyhing and I can't spell.  
_

* * *

**"Okay that's it" Ranger stepped up, scooped me up into his arms and started to walk towards the entrance. "I'm taking you home whether you like or not Babe."**

* * *

He put me down in the front seat and buckled me up. I didn't say anything; I was cranky and going to let him see that… by not talking to him of course. All though the silent treatment may not be the way to go with Ranger, him not being the most talkative person in the world. But I didn't think about that at the moment. He got in the drivers seat and slipped into his driving zone. Even though I was drunk and he had his blank face on I could see he was irritated and tense. I starred out of the window the entire drive home. When we pulled over on my parking lot I opened the door to get out. Not as easy as I thought it would be and I crashed down on the pavement. Lucky the fall wasn't too long.

"Oh crap" I said to myself. Ranger came into my line of vision, he leaned against the car and looked down on me amused.

"Need some help there Babe?"

"No! I'm Wonder Woman remember." His lips curved into an almost-smile.

"What ever you say"

I rolled over to my stomach and slowly got up on all four, when I attempted to rise I had to grab the door for support. I gave Ranger the told-you-so look and started to make my way to the house. It was an unsteady way, I wobbled from side to side and tripped on my shoes all the time. Before I knew it I was on the ground again. Damn. I guess Ranger was getting tired of me because he scooped me up into his arms again and carried me to the house.

"Hey I can do it myself" I said whiny. He just gave me a glare. I guess he wasn't amused anymore. When we got inside my apartment I wriggled myself out of his arms.

"Now you don't have to play the Good Samaritan anymore, so bye." I turned around and started to walk away.

"What the hell is wrong with you Steph?" Ranger let out angrily from behind me.

"Me? What the hell is wrong with _me_?"

"Why are you doing this? All the flirting and acting like a stubborn fucking baby… I know you're drunk but that's not it."

"Why am I acting like a stubborn baby? Because you seem to think I can't do _anything_ on my own! I know I need a lot of help in my job and I'm happy to have you as help, even the times I don't ask for it. But Ranger I can handle a night out with a friend on my own! I can handle guys groping me on the dance floor and too many cocktails" I sat down on the edge of my couch.

"And about the whole flirting part… why should you care?" He just stood there staring at me.

"I think it's pretty obvious why I care…" he said quietly after a while.

"But it's not! You can't keep doing this Ranger, saying one thing but meaning another! I am a single woman right now, I should be able to flirt with anybody I want"

"What about Morelli?"

"It's over, he doesn't want me anymore… he found somebody else… And since Morelli doesn't want me anymore and you've never wanted me, I should be able to flirt as much as I want!"

"Is that why you denied me today? Because you think I don't want you?" He squatted in front of me.

"Is that what this is about? Is that why you're mad? I know Tank said you were angry but… well if that's all you can think about forget it!"

"What are you talking about?" he looked confused.

"I know no one ever denies you and if you're just trying to smooth talk me into sleeping with you just to prove that you can I want you to leave right now!" His eyes narrowed.

"Is that what you think about me?" I tried to look away but he took my chin in his hand and made me look him in the eyes. "Is that what you think I'm doing here?"

"How am I supposed to know something about you when you don't show or tell me anything?" now the blank face was off and I could see that his eyes were full of emotions. Unfortunately I was to drunk to tell exactly what emotions.

"I know I'm not the easiest person and I'm sorry about that, but I want you to know that I would never sleep with you just to prove something"

"Then why did you sleep with me?"

"Because I want you god damnit!" He stood up and ran his fingers frustrated through his hair. "And it hurts me to hear you say that you think I never wanted you… but it hurts me even more to hear that you think I would sleep with you just to use you."

"But what the hell do you mean by want? Do you want my body or do you want all of me? 'Cause I'm having a hard time understanding why you would send me back to Morelli if you wanted all of me" I felt tears coming down my cheeks so I got up and took a few steps from him, I felt I needed to put some space between us.

"And don't you dare try to use the whole my-life-doesn't-lend-itself-to-relationships excuse again! 'Cause if you really knew me you would know that I don't want the ordinary relationship! If I wanted to pick out china plates, go to dinner parties or expected my man to be home every day at five o'clock for dinner, I would already be married to Joe!" None of us moved, we just stood there staring at each other.

"I thought I did what was best for you" he slouched down on the edge of the couch looking beat.

"Well guess what, you didn't! And I don't think I can take getting hurt again… I want you to leave now." I didn't bear to see his face so I quickly turned around and walked into my bedroom, closing the door behind me. After a while I heard my front door open and close. I threw myself on the bed and cried myself to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning I was a wreck. My head pounded so hard I thought it was going to explode, I was still in my clothes from last night, I had smudged make-up all over my face, it felt like an animal had crawled up in my mouth and died and just when I thought it couldn't get any worse I remembered the fight with Ranger. What a great start to a new day. I dragged myself out of bed and got in the shower where I swore never to drink again. I tried as hell not to think about Ranger and all the things we said… but of course I failed miserably. He'd said he wanted me. I told him to leave. I did the right thing… right? Maybe I could blame the whole thing on me being drunk. No, Ranger wouldn't buy that.

I got dressed and got in my car and drove to the office. Not without stopping and a McDonald's to get some fries and a coke of course. I was also smart enough to buy an extra bag of fries for Lula, I didn't feel like sharing today. When I entered the office both Connie and Lula stopped what ever they were doing and stared at me.

"Girl you look like shit" Lula said after a while. "I'm guessing you got a little too much of the good last night with Mary Lou."

"Don't even go there, I'm pissed as shit and not in the mood." No point in trying to hide anything. Lula put her hands up in a jeez-take-it-easy-gesture, and then she spotted my food bag.

"You went to McDonald's without me?" I opened the bag and picked out the extra bag of fries at her. "Knew I could count on you girl" she smiled at me. We started to eat and I turned to Connie.

"Got any skips for me?"

"Yep, I got to low bonds that came in yesterday. I think they're pretty easy but still the cash is kind of good."

"Sounds perfect" I took the files from her and flipped through them. Vincent York, 38, wanted for driving under the influence and Melanie Scott, 24, wanted for violating a car. None of them seemed harmful or scary so I figured if I was lucky I could bring them both in today. The next second I noticed both Connie and Lula tensed up. Shit! That probably meant Ranger was on his way in, damn! I had hoped I wouldn't run in to him for a couple of days. I wasn't sure I could look him in the eyes after last night and I had a feeling things could get pretty uncomfortable. I got up and picked up my stuff so that when he walked through the door it would really look like I was on my why out and not just avoiding him.

"Okay guys so I'll see you later, I'm gonna go see if I get lucky with these skips" As I spoke the door opened and he entered. I turned around to leave. Our eyes locked for a second, his face was totally blank. I had a very strong feeling that my wasn't.

"Hey Ranger" I quickly looked away and walked out of the office. I could feel his eyes burning in my back.

I parked outside Vincent York's house, walked up to the door and rang the bell. I could here movement inside but he didn't answer the door. I pressed the bell again. When I rang the doorbell for the forth time I could hear the lock rattling. A tall man with a beginning bald spot on his head opened the door with pupils the size of coins. It was Vincent York, high as a kite.

"Hey why are you making my ears hurt?" he slurred out. I guess he was referring to my doorbell ringing.

"Mr. York you missed your court date and I'm here to remind you." His face lit up in a stupid smile.

"Well thanks man" he began to close the door.

"Not so fast, I'm afraid we need to go down to the station to reschedule right now." The smile vanished from his face.

"But I don't wanna go!" It's funny how smoking weed can turn even the most sensible man into a whiny kid.

"Yeah I know but you don't really have choice." I saw anger growing in his eyes.

"I don't wanna go! Didn't you hear what I said BITCH!" He started waving his arms, in some weird way I think he was trying to hit me. Suddenly his arm got to close to me and I lost all my patience.

"Well I don't give a FUCK!" I grabbed my handcuffs and succeeded in clipping them on one of his wrists and shoved him around hard, grabbing his other wrist.

"Noooooo!" He screamed and started stomping his feet like cranky six year old. I closed his door and pushed him down to my car and drove him to the station.

When I had gotten my body receipt I drove off to get Melanie Scott. She lived in a brown apartment building on Highland Street. I knocked on her apartment door and after a while she opened. She was wearing sweats like looked like they needed to be cleaned and had a doughnut in her hand. Mmm doughnuts.

"Hi, I represent your bonds agent and I'm here to remind you that you missed your court date." She did an eye roll.

"Oh for Christ sake, I' not guilty of anything!"

"That's not up to me to decide, I'm just here to bring you down to the station so that you can reschedule." She looked annoyed.

"It's not even my freakin' fault… it's my shitty ex boyfriend's. We'd gone out for a few months and just when I started to think things were getting serious he just disappeared on me! Not a word or anything! After I while I found out he had gotten himself a new girl. That fucking bastard. So one day I saw his car parked outside the mall, I couldn't help it, I snapped!" Her story reminded me of the time when I saw Morelli and ran him over with the Buick. Poor girl.

"Hey, I'm rooting for you! I think he got just what he deserved. I myself hit a guy with my car when he screwed me over. But that doesn't change the fact that I need to bring you to the station… I'm just earning a living here." She sighed.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Hey aren't you that Plum girl?" I nodded my head. "Wow you're just as cool as you sound in the papers! Wait just a second I'm just gonna grab my purse."

Well… for the first time in my life my published screw-ups brought me something good. Yey!

I got back to the office about 11.30, wow I thought to myself, not even lunch and already I head caught two skips and earned enough for my rent.

"Not even lunch and already two skips secured behind bars!"

"Well since you're on a roll maybe you wanna take a look at this skip we just got it." She handed me a file. Man in his mid thirties, wanted for domestic violence. What a scumbag! I kind of recognized the picture but I couldn't place him. Well maybe I've just seen him around, after all Trenton isn't _that_ big.

"What do you say I give this guy a try and then we go for lunch?" I asked Lula.

"Yeah sounds good. You want me to ride shotgun?"

"No way you're riding shotgun for anyone today, if you take one step away from that filing cabinet I'm gonna put a bullet in your head!" Connie burst out. I looked over to the filing cabinet and understood where she was coming from. There were more files on top the cabinet than what could actually fit in it. Lula spent way too much time filing her nails instead of the files.

"Uh-oh, Looks like Connie got PMS or something, you'd better stay here. But it's okay, I think I can handle this guy on my own, I'll pick you up later."

"Okay but it better not be too long, I'm starting to get hungry" truth is, Lula was always hungry. "If that bony white ass of his starts to run away you just turn around and come back here. I ain't got time to wait around for you to go home and take a shower if you get rolled around in dog poop or wrestled with a dude covered in Vaseline." Normally people would take this as an insult, but sadly enough she was right and I found myself in those situations all the time. I gave her a you-never-know-so-I-can't-promise-anything smile and walked out the door.

I stopped outside the house that was addressed. The house was on Hancock Street and I didn't have good memories from this street. I once visited a kid who was pregnant with a gang member who was trying to kill me on this street. I hoped this would turn out better. I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Once again no one opened the door even though I heard movement and I had to ring again. On the third, very long, ring I heard the locks began to rattle and cursing behind the door.

"What the fuck is…" The man stopped in his tracks and starred at me in chock. I was just as chocked. Now I knew why I recognized the man in the picture. It was Daniel, the guy I had been dancing with last night. That fucking son of a bitch!

"You?" I let out in a threatening voice.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I guess I didn't know my profession and therefore thought that I was there to pine and beg or something.

"Well well, not only are you married and still keep the girls warm on the dance floor, but you also abuse and assault your own wife. What a catch you are indeed." He looked confused.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I represent you bond agent and you didn't show up for court asshole!"

"You're a bounty hunter? Oh fuck you can't stick you dick anywhere these days." Oh he didn't!

"Oh shut up! You're coming with me to the station right NOW if I so have to drag you by your balls dumbass!" I got out my cuffs and his eyes grew big.

"Like hell I'm not you bitch!" He shoved me into the wall and ran passed me down the street. Oh fuck, I hated to run, but I was SO going to get this piece of shit. Because this time, it was personal. I ran after him as fast as I could. He jumped down in ditch in which a little brook was running. I jumped down after him and thought – it's only water, water dries and doesn't leave any stains. I can't still go to lunch. He ran long side the brook I wasn't too far behind him. While he was running I could see him bending down quickly. The next thing I knew a rock hit me in my shoulder and a second later another one hit my eyebrow. Damn, that hurt! Boy was he pushing my buttons right now. I also bent down a grabbed a few rocks. I launched them at him and saw to my great pleasure how one hit him in the back of his head. This caused him to trip, only slightly, but enough to slow him down a few steps. I sped up as well as I could manage and was only I few feet away from him now. I picked out my stun gun from my back pocket and launched myself at him, makings us both fall over. Before he could do anything else I showed the stun gun deep in his shoulder and he stopped moving. I stood up and brushed myself off. The shoes were a little wet and I had a few grass stains from the fall but I could live with that.

"Hah! Got cha, you asshole!" I bent down and cuffed his wrists behind his back. Then I realized I was going to have to drag him all the way to my car all by myself… oh crap.

After an hour of struggling I had finally gotten him into my car and was driving to the station. He had woke up two times but I had just stunned his ass again, I was not in the mood for any more wrestling and I honestly didn't care if all the stuns would cause any serious damage to him. He got what he deserved. As I was getting my third body receipt for the day I saw Morelli walking towards me.

"Hey I hear it's you third catch for the day, trying to set a new record?" He smiled at me.

"What can I say, somebody's got to separate the good from the bad" I winked at him and he let out a laughter.

"Everything good with you?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah, pretty good. No maniacs stalking me and I will be able to pay my rent so things are okay for the moment. How 'bout you?"

"Oh same old, same old you know. We should grab a pizza or a beer or something some day"

"Yeah that sounds good. But I actually got to go, I'm late for lunch with Lula and you know how she can get when she's hungry."

"Cupcake, she's always hungry" I grinned at him and waved goodbye as I exited. I was glad that things weren't awkward between us. Even though it felt kind of funny that he still called me cupcake. All though on a second thought I would be more bothered if he didn't.

I drove as fast as I could to the office but when I got there I ran into trouble. Outside was Rangers Porsche parked. Fuck! I still wasn't ready to see him. I decided Lula just had to wait a couple more minuets for lunch. No way I was going in there when Batman was there. I quickly drove past the office hoping no way would notice my car. A minute later my phone rang.

"Yeah?"

"You can't avoid me forever Babe." Then he hung up. Oh shit.

* * *

_I made up Highland Street since I don't have a clue of what streets exists in Trenton. _

_And just a question that's been spinning in my head for a while now, does anybody know if Bulgari really exists or if Janet made it up? I'm starting to get a little curiouse here ;) _


	10. Has the world gone crazy?

_Well it seems like the subject of Bulgari turns everybody on fire ;) thank you som much for a the answers to my question. Too bad I live in Sweden and probably wont be able to get my hands on it though. (At least not in my town)_

* * *

**"You can't avoid me forever Babe." Then he hung up. Oh shit.**

* * *

I drove around for a while before I headed back to the office, I knew Ranger probably had called from his car but I still didn't feel like taking any chances. When I walked through the door I saw Lula sitting on the couch, doing her nails, looking cranky as hell.

"Where the hell have you been?" she screamed at me. "I told you to turn your bony ass around and get back here if the friggin skip tried to run dammit!"

"I'm sorry! But I really really needed to catch this guy, I knew who he was and I just couldn't let his sorry ass go when I knew he was running around beating the shit out of his wife"

"Whatever! We are going to lunch right _now_! I'm so damn hungry I could eat a bear!" She got up and grabbed her purse. "You comin'?" she asked Connie.

"No, I brought my own lunch today, you guys go" she returned to her computer.

We drove and got our selves a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

"So what was the deal with the skip? You said you knew him?" Lula wanted to know.

"Yeah well sort of… I danced with him last night and let me tell you, there was no ring on his finger!"

"You made out with him?"

"Almost"

"What a fucking peckernose" She said before taking another huge bite of chicken.

"Yep, so now you see why I had to catch the piece of shit" Before she got time to answer, my cell rang.

"Hello"

"Hey, it's Joe" Joe? I couldn't deny that I was a little surprised.

"What's up?"

"Not much... I'm just wondering, are you doing anything special tonight?"

"No I don't think so…"

"I was just thinking if you wanted to come by and eat some pizza and watch the Rangers game?"

"That sounds good" I liked hanging out with Joe and I really wanted us to stay friends this time. "Should I bring the pizza?"

"Yeah, what did you expect?" then he disconnected. What was it with men and lack of phone manners?

"Hot date?" Lula asked with her mouth full of chicken.

"No, just pizza and TV with Morelli" she looked surprised.

"I thought you guys broke up for good?"

"Yeah but we're still friends, and this time the hanging out part is not just a cover for saying You wanna come over and have some hot sex? This time it really means just hanging out"

"Aha… We'll see about that" she said raising one of her eyebrows.

"No! I'm serious! We're really just friends now. Besides he's found somebody else remember"

"Yeah but that doesn't mean that he doesn't wanna make some sweat lovin' to ya, men are always out for that whether it's their wife, there best friend or cousin… it doesn't matter"

"Sometimes I think you're last profession gave you a some what screwed up picture of men"

"Or a much clearer picture, just wait and see hun." I shook my head and chuckled.

Much later I pulled up on Morelli's driveway with a pizza in my hand. I had a feeling that my mother soon would hear about it through the Burg grapevine in a minute and think we were back together. But I didn't care, the news about Morelli's new woman would be spread soon enough. I knocked in the door and opened it.

"The pizza's here!" I could hear a rumbling noise and the next second Bob came tumbling at me in full speed. Luckily I didn't fall over, that had happened so many times I had actually learned from it. I bent down and gave him a hug, pretending that he was exited to see me and not just the pizza. Joe emerged from the living room.

"Oh great! Good thing the pizza brought you as well" he smiled at me.

"Well it's a very well-mannered pizza" I winked at him.

Joe grabbed a couple of beers out of the refrigerator before we went back to the living room. We slouched on the couch and watched the Rangers game. I'd worried that things would feel awkward, I mean it's one thing to meet on the street and talk for a second, but to hang out like we did when we were a couple is something else. But things felt okay and I started to relax. We chatted about this and that for a while until Morelli suddenly brought up a surprising subject.

"So… what's Ranger up to tonight?"

"I don't know, probably working as usual. Why? What has he done?" Most of the time the police looked the other way on the things that involved Ranger, they figured that he did more good things for them on the outside than on the inside. Even if everything wasn't approved by the law.

"Nothing more than usual. Just thought you would know." He didn't look me in the eyes but kept staring at the TV.

"Why would I know what he was up to?" What was he getting at?

"Well I just thought since you were free tonight that he might be doing something special"

"Why would me being available have anything to do with Ranger?" God was I getting curious.

"I just thought you would spend the night... with him…" Oh now we're getting somewhere.

"And why would I do that Joe?" finally he snapped out of his trance like state and turned towards me.

"Isn't that what you do? Aren't you with him now?"

"Why do you care Joe?" I snapped.

"I just thought now that I'm finally out of the picture you would jump straight into his bed"

"What makes you thing I already haven't been there?" Wow did I just say that? I could see that really got his attention, I could see the anger building in his eyes.

"Well have you?" Oh boy.

"No…" _Liar liar, pants on fire!_ Okay I know it's a sin to lie but there are things that he is better off not knowing. I tried not to feel too guilty, I'm sure his relationship with Terry Gilman isn't entirely pure either.

"What about now?"

"That's none of your business Joe! And for your information I have every right of sleeping with him if I feel like it, you're the one who found somebody else and broke us off, remember!" Okay forget the things I said about this not being awkward, 'cause things certainly was awkward now.

"Oh don't act all innocent with me! Something was going on between you and Ranger long before I met Bonnie. I saw they way you looked at each other."

"He never touched me when I was with you!" I was getting angry.

"But did you want him to touch you?" Oh shit.

"Well did you wanna touch Terry Gilman?" I fired back at him. He went very still.

"No…" I could see he was lying. I had a feeling that their relationship was somewhat similar to Rangers and mine. Probably a lot of play full teasing but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that he didn't touch her when he was with me. Even if he wanted to.

The next minute my cell rang. I flipped it open.

"What?"

"Bad moment Babe?" Ranger voice was slightly amused.

"No. What's up?" I wasn't gonna let him know what was going on. I could see Joe watching me closely.

"I kind of need your help… right now." What?

"You need _my _help? What distraction?"

"No, I need help with picking up a skip. Where are you?"

"At Morelli's house…" Ranger only paused for a second but it was long enough for me to notice that he was bothered by it.

"Okay, I'll pick you up outside in ten" then he disconnected.

"I gotta go." I turned to Joe.

"Ranger?" I nodded my head. "Well speak of the devil." He let out sarcastic. I stood up.

"Uhm… we're alright huh?" I hoped we hadn't messed it up once more. He stood up and smiled at me.

"Yeah, we're okay." He kissed me friendly on the cheek. I walked towards the door but stopped as I opened it.

"Say hi to Bonnie from me!" He chuckled and gave me a goodbye wave. I closed the door and sat down on his porch waiting for Ranger, who showed up two minutes later. I jumped in his car. He was in his usual black cargo pants and black t-shirt that was molded to his muscular chest. He looked like he hadn't shaved in a day and had a stubble that was sexy as hell. All in all, he looked good enough to eat. I guess I wasn't too discreet with my looks since his lips curved into a grin.

"Nice to see you too Babe" I blushed a little and turned my attention to buckle up my seatbelt.

"So what exactly could the almighty Batman possible need my help with?" He chuckled slightly and picked up a file.

"I got a pretty interesting FTA today… I think you should take a look at it." He handed me the file. I was more curious than ever, something like this had never happened before. I opened the file and froze. Oh. My. God. This wasn't happening!

"GRANDMA MAZUR?" I screamed. I turned towards Ranger with my jaw completely dropped. I could see that he was trying to fight off a smile so bad his entire face was twitching.

"Oh you just go a head and laugh asshole!" He couldn't fight it anymore and let out a full on laughter. I checked the file again and apparently she had threatened someone with that damn gun of hers and also tried to shoot the person's dog. Oh god please kill me! Or better yet, I'll kill her!

"You realize my mother will go ballistic don't you"

"Yep. I don't think there's enough clothes in the entire Burg to iron for her to get over this."

"She will blame me for this." I said dejected.

"How could she possible blame you for this?" He looked puzzled.

"Oh believe me, she'll find a way! She'll say all this is a result of my horrible work, she'll say I'm bad influense on her, she'll say it's my fault she has that got that damn gun"

"Babe…" he tried to cut in but I wouldn't listen.

"And of course she will say that none of this would have happened if I had gotten a job the button factory, she'll say "Stephanie why can't you be more like Mary Lou?" it used to be like Valerie but she's not so perfect any more and of course she blames me for that as well. She'll say that no man will ever want to marry someone with my life and she will _definitely_ say that…" before I could finish my endless rambling Ranger grabbed me buy the shirt, pulled me over and kissed me. I completely forgot what I was talking about and instead my knees went weak and my fingers curled into his t-shirt. When he pulled away I was breathless. I hadn't even realized that he has stopped the car. We were parked in my parking lot.

"What was that for?" I managed to get out after while.

"You were rambling." He smiled at me.

"Good thinking. But what the hell do I do about this? We can't go now, it's too late she's probably asleep."

"How bout we go over first thing tomorrow and talk to her about it?"

"We?" I couldn't help but teas.

"Okay you'll do the talking I'll do the driving" I chuckled.

"Okay, we'll go over tomorrow morning. And until then I will try to push this as far out of my head as possible and live after Scarlett O'Hara's theory – I'll think about it tomorrow. Otherwise I won't be able to sleep at all tonight."

"I think I know a way to tire you out." He said in a husky voice.

"If this in any way involves me and running shoes, forget about it!"

"Well you got me there." He smiled.

"Okay so pick me up tomorrow at eleven and we'll go over there?" I unbuckled the belt and opened the door.

"Sure thing."

"Oh god… I am so dead." I softly banged my head against the car door.

"Nah, I'll protect you Babe." I smiled at him and closed the door. With heavy steps I made my way up to my apartment. Please let a meteor or a comet or something strike down on my building tonight so I don't have to wake up tomorrow!

I had been lying in my bed for what seemed like ages, tossing and turning, not even close to sleep. Damn you grandma Mazur! I'm gonna kill you for this! Well that is if a can get to her before my mom gets to me. Suddenly my phone rang.

"What the f…" I said to myself as I looked at the clock. 2.00 AM. Who the hell was calling now? I dragged myself out of bed and to the phone.

"Yeah?" I answered with a sleepy voice.

"Schtephanie!" a voice cried out. Oh my god. It was Joe… and he was drunk as hell.

"Joe?"

"I'm schorry, did I wake you?" Why was he drunk and why was he calling me?

"No… I wasn't a sleep. Why are you drunk Joe?"

"I bet that schit hole kept you awake!" He blurted out.

"If you're once again are talking about Ranger, then no he's not here, and if you ever talk about him like that again I'll never speak to you again." I was losing my patience fast.

"Nooo! Please Schteph don't hang up! Look, I mad a mischtake okay! I don't wanna lose you! I want you back!" Oh my god, was this really happening?

"No Joe you don't, you like Bonnie now" I tried to talk some reason into him. Then again talking reason into a drunk is like forcing Ranger to eat fries.

"No! You're the one I want! I missch you so much… I missch kissing you and talking to you"

"You can still talk to me Joe" the kissing part was another thing.

"I missch that thing you do with your tongue" I could hear him smile when he said that.

"Joe, stop it, you don't really mean any of this…you're just drunk" If he had been sober maybe I would have been force to think about this.

"No that's not why, I promisch! We can be together for real this time, you know go for it. I promisch I wont complain about your job, your mother would be so happy, we could move in together, finally that big armygoon would stop trying to steal you away and... " Oh now I get it.

"What did you say? Okay now I know exactly what this is about…you're jealous of Ranger! You don't care about me you just don't want me to sleep with Ranger 'cause that would mean that you lost. I'm sorry Joe, we had some good times, but our days are over… and if I want to run to Ranger that's completely up to me." The words just poured out of me without even thinking it and it felt good… for once I was speaking my true mind. Or let's put it this way, for once I knew what I wanted.

"… noooooo…" he finally whined stubbornly like a little child. I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes it is. Besides, think about Bonnie… you really like her don't you." There were a few moments of silence before I could hear a sigh from the other end.

"Yeah… I do. I like her a lot." It was like his mind cleared up for a second and he realized what was going on.

"Then go for it Joe! Listen, why don't you get some sleep and we'll forget this ever happened. Okay?"

"Sleep is good. Let's do that… and thanks." Then he hung up.

What the hell was happening to this world? Ranger showed emotions from time to time, Joe was begging drunk in the middle of the night and grandma was my next FTA. You can say a lot of things about my life, but you can never say it's boring.


	11. Another deal?

Hey guys! SORRY the late update, I just don't have as many ideas as I did before, but I'm working on that. Also I've had trouble finding time to write but now I have an autumnbreak form school so hopefully I will have more time to write now!

_Anyways I hope you enjoye the chapter! And just as a warning I should say that the grammar and spellcheack didn't work when I wrote this chapter so there's probably about a ton of typos!_

**What the hell was happening to this world? Ranger showed emotions from time to time, Joe was begging drunk in the middle of the night and grandma was my next FTA. You can say a lot of things about my life, but you can never say it's boring.**

I woke up earlier than usual. Don't ask me how I knew because my eyes were closed, but somehow I could just feel it was early. I could also feel a strong presence by another person in my bedroom. Oh shit, _please _don't let I be one of my skips gone mad. Or one that finally got out of prison and has spent his time in there building up his rage and planning his revenge against me. I so did not want a stalker right now, things were finally flowing pretty well in my life, I caught three skips in a day, I didn't roll around in mud or Vaseline and I had finally made up my mind about Joe. Then again things never went well for me for a long amount time, this actually is the time were I usually screw things up in one way or another. I could feel that the person was not moving around but standing still, watching me. Suddenly I felt the tingle in my neck I was becoming more and more used to.

"What do you want Ranger?" I muttered still not opening my eyes. I felt a weight settle on the bed next to me. Then I felt him breathing against my neck and a shiver traveled from my neck all the way down to my curling toes.

"I figured you were going to need a wake up call" I could feel him smiling as he whispered in my ear. Another shiver. Well he was right about the wake up thing, my body was at full alert by now.

"You're not getting me to run if that's what you're imagining" I opened me eyes and met his warm gaze. God this man is gorgeous! His lips were curved into a grin.

"Tempting, but no. There are a few other things I could imagine though" his gaze left my eyes and instead surveyed the visible parts of body. At the same time I remembered that the visible parts were larger than usual, the baggy t-shirt I usually slept in had smelt like shit so I'd put it in the laundry basket and instead put on a teeny tiny tank top. Yikes! I grabbed the cover and pulled it up. He chuckled.

"Again, don't get shy on my account, I kind of enjoyed the view." He carefully drew back the cover a couple of inches and brushed a light kiss on my collarbone. Then he stood up and yanked back the whole cover. "Now get up, I'm guessing your grandmother is an early bird so we should get there before she goes of to the beauty parlor or to shoot someone else's dog."

I grunted and curled up from the sudden cold when the covers were removed. But he was right, I needed to get up. Another grunt.

"Okay, okay I'm up" I said slowly rolling out of bed. I stood up and jawed and stretched my body. Ranger chuckled, swatted me on the ass and let the room. That man has a lot of nerve I thought to myself before I hit the shower.

Twenty minutes later we pulled up outside my parents house. I sighed deeply.

"Ready Babe?" I shook my head.

"Nope, nothing in the world could make me ready for something like this" I opened the door and stepped out. Ranger stayed in the car. I was tempted to turn around and call him a chicken but since I didn't have a death wish I decided not to. My mother opened the door and looked at me confused.

"Stephanie, what brings you here so early?" She looked over at Ranger but quickly looked away, I think he scared her a little bit, but then again who could blame her. "You're not in trouble again are you?"

"Not me this time mom. Where's grandma?" I could se her eyes widen.

"Mother? Oh no what has she done this time?" She made the cross sign and I could see her mouthing the words "why me" towards the sky. That was when it hit me… I'm gonna end up like Grandma Mazur. Oh dear god.

"I'd rather talk to her about it, is she up in her room?" My mother nodded and rushed back inside. I had a feeling she was going to get some clothes in need of ironing.

"Grandma?" I said as I knocked on her door.

"Is that you Stephanie?" I opened the door, she was sitting in front of her mirror, taking out her hair curlers. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I was hoping you would tell me." I sat down on the bed. "Why are you my FTA?"

"Oh that" she said and waved her hand. "It's all just a big misunderstanding! I was just showing Martha my Glock and it accidentally went off and almost hit her dog, well according to her at least, I still say it wasn't even close. But anyway she went ballistic and called the cops on me." She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"But _why_ didn't you show up for your court date? I mean your grandchild is a bounty hunter, you are supposed to set a good example!" I rubbed my eyes frustrated.

"Are you crazy? Then I would miss all the fun! Now I get to see it from a totally different angle. But I have to say I'm a bit disappointed, I was kind of hoping that you had brought the army guy with the great package so that he could cuff me up!" She looked so exited that I couldn't help my smile. I really was going to end up like her, the thought of Ranger cuffing me up made me feel warm in places that shouldn't feel warm.

"Well actually he is outside waiting in the car." Her eyes grew wider.

"Then no offence Steph but I'm not going anywhere unless that man carries me out of here on his shoulder… or at least put handcuffs on me!" I laughed out loud.

"And what makes you think I would agree to that? I think I am capable of getting you on my own." I asked her amused.

"The fact that I will stun gun you if you come any closer" she grinned at me and held up _my_ stun gun.

"How the h…" I started to say but then I realized I had put my bag down the floor between us. She must have grabbed it while I rubbed my eyes. "Oh you sneaky son of a bitch!" even though I was surprised at what she had done I couldn't stop smiling. "I'll go talk to Ranger then."

When I got out to the car again he rolled down his window looking surprised and amused.

"Trouble?" I could see his lips twitching.

"That depends…" I said trying to keep my own lips from twitching.

"On what?"

"On you"

"Me?" He looked puzzled.

"Yeah… turns out she wont go unless you carry her out on your shoulder or at least put handcuffs on her" I couldn't fight my smile anymore and grinned at him. His smile on the other hand had disappeared.

"And what would make you think a would agree to that? It's not like you can't handle her on your own."

"Somehow she got her hands on my stun gun and has promised to stun gun me if I come too close. So it looks like it's up to you Batman" I was smiling so big my cheeks where beginning to hurt, but I couldn't stop it.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me! You put her up to this! You gave her the stun gun!" I could almost se panic flickering in his eyes. I burst out laughing.

"I wish I was making this up but sadly I'm not! But that doesn't change the fact the it's hilarious!" He opened the door and stepped out, not looking happy. He grabbed my shirt and pulled me close to him.

"Oh you owe me for this… _big time!"_ For once he didn't scare me even a little… I was too busy laughing.

We went back in the house and up the stairs. When we were going to enter her room he turned around to face me.

"You are going to have to wait outside, I want to talk to her alone. Go back to the car."

"What ever you say… just don't hurt her" He gave me a soft smile and went into her room and I made my way back to the car.

I waited for what felt like forever, but I probably was about ten minutes. I was getting more and more curious for every passing minute, what the hell was going on up there? What were they talking about and why was it taking so long? Then finally the front door opened again and Ranger and Grandma exited. No cuffs in sight, damn! I was kind of looking forward to the sight. But I noticed that grandma looked pleased despite the lack of cuffs.

"Steph I'm taking care of this, your dad's going to drive you to the office."

"What?" My jaw dropped.

"Yeah, I'll stop by later." He opened the car door for grandma, who put out her tongue at me in a teasing gesture. Then he got in behind the wheel and drove off, leaving me on the curb like an idiot. What the hell just happened? Then my father came out of the house and got his car. I jumped in next to him. At times like these I was glad that my father was even more quiet than Ranger, I don't think I could have handled any questions right about now. When we stopped outside my office I bent over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks dad" he smiled at me and I got out.

I gossiped and talked about this and that for a while with Connie and Lula, trying as hard as I could to at least seem interested, my mind were somewhere else. At the copshop to be exact. I couldn't stop wondering why Ranger took grandma himself. I mean if there was one thing on the planet that scared him, it was her… it just didn't make any sense.

"Earth to Steph!" I snapped out of my own thoughts and turn to Connie and Lula, who were starring at me.

"Huh?"

"Have you heard anything about Tony Strauzeen being a two-timing asshole?" Connie asked as she painted her nails red.

"Uhm… no haven't heard anything about that, but I hope for his own sake that he's not, Elena has some BIG older brothers that wouldn't hesitate in crushing him like a bug if he mistreated her." I answered somewhat absent.

"Hey girl, where's your mind at? You been acting like a friggin zombie ever since you got here." Lula asked.

"I'm sorry, my mind is somewhere else…"

"Could it have anything to do with Mr Rambo over there?" Connie pointed at something behind me. I turned around and saw Ranger leaning against his porsche looking at us.

"As a matter of fact it could." I jumped off the table I had been sitting on and amble outside.

"Okay Mr, you got some explaining to do" I said crossing my arms over my chest. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on! Why did you take grandma yourself?"

"We made a deal" he said almost smiling.

"A deal? I hope to god not one like you made with me…" I said with a disgusted look.

"No, not one of those" he said chuckling slightly.

"Then with kind of deal?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you Babe, classified information, if I tell you I have to…"

"Oh don't even go there! If you _don't _tell me I'll kill _you_!" He wolfgrinned at me.

"I'd like to see you try Babe." He was right but it was annoying as hell.

"Oh come ON! You gotta tell me something… at least a small part of it." I used my puppy eyes on him.

"Well she did get her wish about the cuffing part." He lips twitched again.

"What? But she wasn't wearing any cuffs when you drove off?"

"No but one part of the deal was that I'd cuff us together, wrist to wrist, when we got to the station." He was smiling now.

"No you didn't!" I said, surprised. "You really agreed to that?"

"Well you gotta give the lady something, she doesn't get much excitement now that you've stopped blowing up cars on a regular basis." He winked at me. Sometimes he really was a good guy… I mean deal or no deal I could feel he did it mostly just to be nice, even though he really didn't have to.

I guess that triggered something in me because I'm not really sure why I acted like I did. I stepped up to him and put his face between my hands and kissed him. Tongue and all. But it wasn't a caught-up-in-the-moment kind of kiss either. It was a really nice kiss. I could feel that he was surprised at first but quickly wrapped his arms around my waste and pulled me closer. When I broke it off I didn't take a step back but I looked him in the eyes and smiled.

"What was that for Babe?" For once his face wasn't blank, instead his eyes were surprised and warm.

"Just for being you." I could see something flicker in his eyes and it made him look… happy.

"You realize that you will have some explaining to do when you get back inside." I could imagine that Connie and Lula had just wet there pants.

"Yeah… but it was worth it." I smiled at him.

"Well feel free to do it again sometime." He bent down and kissed my lips softly and then got in his car and drove off.


	12. Realization

_Hey everybody! Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews, they really make my day!  
And again, sorry for the slow update, I've been having some computer problems.  
__Anyway, I reeeally hope you enjoy this part because this is the last andfinal part! Yep, this is the ending of Happy Birthday Babe. Feels a bit sad since it's my first story and all, but you can't keep going for ever, people get tired of the story and I have absolutly no ideas left. So I hope you like the chapter!_

_Take care/ Sanna _

* * *

"**Well feel free to do it again sometime." He bent down and kissed my lips softly and then got in his car and drove off.**

* * *

I watched him drive away, mostly because I needed a second to brace myself for what was coming. I know Lula and Connie always suspected something had happened between me and Ranger but I'd always denied it. This time I couldn't deny it... I would have to tell them a thing or two and I wasn't sure I would come out alive. When I opened the door they still sat frozen in their seats with their jaws dropped not saying anything. I pretended like nothing and started flipping through files. After a while Lula shook her head as if to wake her self up.

"Okay stop right there girlfriend! What the hell was that all about? You just _KISSED_ batman!" she said with a pitched voice.

"Uhm… yeah I guess I did" I don't really know why I was trying to avoid the subject, I already knew they wouldn't let this one slide, not in a million years.

"And not only that but he kissed you back! YOU JUST MADE OUT WITH THE WIZARD!" Connie shouted.

"_Jeez_, take it easy, it's not like it's the first time" Ouch! What did I just do? Oh god no! It just slipped out of me... FUCK!

They both stopped and starred at me again not saying anything for a few moments.

"WHAT!" They finally cried out at the same time

"You've kissed him before? How come we don't know about this? Okay I mean we've always known you guys have had the hots for each other and that he looks at you like you're lunch… but we never thought you actually did anything" Connie said.

"We thought you were too chicken" Lula continued. "So you kissed him before?"

"Mostly it's the other way around but yeah" Their eyes got big

"Oh you lucky son of a bitch!" Connie said shaking her head.

"Okay tell us everything girl! And I'm talking details, all the dirty facts…" Lula stopped in her tracks and gasped for breath "OHMIGOD! Have you SLEPT with him?" Great, just the question I didn't want to answer.

"No… I haven't" _Liar, Liar pants on fire!_ Second time I lied about sleeping with him this weak, but come on, some things are private and I cherished the memory of our night too much for it to be dissected by Connie and Lula. Plus they would never be able to look at Ranger again. Suddenly Vinnie's door opened and he stuck out his sleazy head

"Yeah right!" Then he quickly locked the door again. Okay so I'm guessing Vinnie didn't buy my lie. Connie and Lula quickly flicked their eyes at me to see if he was right.

"No really, I haven't slept with him." They let out a breath and started fanning them selves. After that they interrogated me for a LONG time, pushing me for details about everything from his kissing skills to what his ass felt like. And they both acted like some freakin' teenagers, they screamed and went totally crazy over every little word I said. Finally I realized I needed to get out of there before my brain would start to boil.

"Okay I've given you more than enough details now! And just so you guys know, this doesn't leave this office! I don't want you to go babbling about this to anyone, 'cause if you do I swear to god I will never tell you a single thing about him again and not give one little detail if I actually would sleep with him." Sometimes you got to threaten a little bit. Also I know how much Ranger appreciates his privacy… and to be honest this town knows so much about me that I kind of appreciate the few things they don't know.

"Okay, say no more, our lips are sealed." Connie said assuring.

"So have you got someone for me?" I was desperate to change the subject.

"Yeah, I have one... but he's a pretty bad one. I don't know why Ranger didn't pick this one up but since he hasn't I guess he's yours." This surprised me a bit, Ranger usually didn't like it when I was assigned to the bad and really bad FTAs even if he didn't go crazy over it like Joe. He helped me instead. I figured that this guy couldn't be that bad if he had left him for me. I picked up the file and flipped through it. John Mendez, 38, wanted for rape, murder and attempted murder. Yikes! I picked up my phone and called Ranger.

"Yo" He answered.

"Yo yourself. Hey Since I got a lift with you this morning I haven't got a car and I kinda need it… do you think you could get one of your men to drop it of?" A while ago I would never have made this phone call, thinking that I would be asking for too much and that he would see me as a burden. Now I knew that he wanted me to make this calls, truth is he got annoyed when I didn't, since that usually meant that I ended up in more trouble then I would have.

"It'll be there in fifteen" He said and hung up.

I looked up and saw Connie and Lula both starring at me.

"What?"

"You got a lift with him this morning?" Lula asked rising her eyebrow.

"Trust me, it's not what you think. We picked up grandma" They both burst out laughing.

"Hey it's not funny!" I tried to sound serious but failed miserably.

Ten minutes later my phone rang.

"Hello"

"Your car's delivered Bomber"

"Thanks Bobby, you're the best!" I could actually hear him smile through the phone.

"Least I could do. Just don't blow it up okay?" he teased.

"I'll try but I wont make any promises" Even though it sounds like a joke the sad thing is that it's true.

He laughed and disconnected.

"Okay I'm off to try and get this guy" I said waving the file

"Oh it's not enough that she gets to kiss batman _oh no_, she's got his entire army asking 'How High' if she says 'Jump!'. It's just not fare, you should learn how to share girl!" Lula said.

"Hey I don't mind if you guys make out with Tank, Bobby or any of the other guys, you just go right a head" I said laughing as I exited the office.

I checked the file; John Mendez lived on Grove Street, the street next to Stark Street, not as bad but still bad. Maybe I should have my gun for this, yes it still spent most of it's time in the cookie jar. I decided to take a chance and check him out anyway, I mean there's gotta be a reason that Ranger left him for me, he just couldn't be that bad. I drove past Stark Street and slowed down as I got onto Grove Street to check for the right house number. He lived in 67. Just as I slowed down in front of the house, about to park on the curb, I heard gunshots. On instinct I ducked down to get out of the line of fire. Only the shooting didn't stop and all of a sudden a bullet hit my trunk and I realized that it came from nr 67. I guess Mendez had figured out that I wasn't stopping by for a social visit. I stepped on the gas and drove off a fast as I could. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to jump out of my chest. I hate getting shot at. After a few blocks I stopped the car to catch my breath and calm down. Okay I would definitely need my gun for this one. I decided picking up grandma, being interrogated my Lula and Connie and being shot at was enough action for one day so I drove back to my apartment.

Just as I closed the door behind me, my phone rang.

"Hello"

"Stephanie Plum, explain right this second why my mother went to jail this morning!" My mother shouted out. Oh god no, this was the last thing I needed right now.

"Mom, this has nothing to do with me. She was showing one of her friends her gun and it accidentally went off and just so you know, I have not under any circumstances encouraged her to have a gun. I hate guns."

"But she wouldn't have got it in the first place if it wasn't for you and your job! You inspired her! Oh god, why me? My phone as been ringing like crazy all day, it's enough I have to deal with the phone calls I get for your escapades, but now my own mother as well! Do you know what people will think about me? Do you know everything they say about us"

"I know about most things mom and to be honest, I don't care, let them gossip it doesn't bother me" Maybe it did bother me just a teeny tiny bit, but I wasn't gonna let her know.

"But _I_ care Stephanie! Oh god why can't you be more like Mary Lou! Settle down with Joseph and quit that terrible job of yours. Who would want to marry someone with your lifestyle? You're lucky to have Joe that's for sure."

"Joe and I broke up mom, for good this time. He's found somebody else." For the first time during the conversation my mother was quiet. For a moment at least.

"Why me? Why me? Stephanie, are you doing this because you're angry at me? I don't understand why you keep punishing me like this. Blowing up cars, getting shot at, running around with big dangerous army men and now your dragging your grandmother with you as well, let me tell you Stephanie, she had a bad enough reputation as it was without adding this to it." She kept screaming at me for another 15 minutes. I tuned out as much as possible but couldn't help but overhear some of the things she accused me of. I was too tired for this. When she was finished screaming she did her duty as a mother as well.

"Oh and I want you to come to dinner on Saturday night." For once I was mad enough at my mother to tell her the truth.

"You know what mom, I don't think so"

"Why not?" She asked surprised

"Because I don't want to" I disconnected and threw the phone away from me. _GOD_ she drove me crazy! A good mother is supposed to support her child no matter what! Even if it decides to be in the mob, work as a clown or be a transvestite, a good mother is supposed to say 'Do what makes you happy, I will love you no matter what'. Look at Sally Sweet and his mother, they have a great relationship, the only conversations I have with my mom are either about food or she's complaining about all the things that's wrong with me. Even though my father doesn't say much we have a better connection than me and mom. He doesn't complain, he lets me do what I want and trusts me. Maybe it's not so weird that I'm drawn to Ranger, the big silent guy clearly seems to be my type. Come to think about it, that's probably it. My mother and Joe always complain about my lifestyle, my work, begging me to get married and points out all the things that's wrong with me, even if they still love me. My dad and Ranger on the other hand, never complain about what I do, they only want me to get better at it and instead of nagging, they help me when I need it. Maybe Ranger is the man for me after all.

As I was sitting there with my mind on overdrive, my stomach began to growl. Maybe I should get something to eat. I got the phone and ordered home delivery pizza from Pino's.

I sat down on my couch and started to contemplate what to do with my skip. The man was wanted for rape and murder, I usually didn't handle these guys, they were a little out of my league. On top of that, he had already shot at me and I hadn't even got close to him. I need help in this one... and I don't mean Lula by that. I just have to swallow my pride and ask Ranger. I picked up my cell.

"Yo"

"Yo yourself. Are you busy?"

"Not really. What's up Babe?" At the same time my door bell rang, the pizza was here. I stood up and walked to the door.

"I kind of need your help." I grabbed five dollars and opened the door. To my big surprise was it the pizza but not the pizza boy. Instead it was Ranger holding my pizza in one hand and his phone in the other. He snapped his phone shut and grinned at me.

"I have to say I'm bit disappointed that your not cuffed naked to your shower, needing my help getting loose" I had to smile at the memory… and blush slightly.

"Sorry, but no. So what's up with bringing my pizza? Earning some extra cash?" I teased and his lips twitched.

"Nah, I ran into the pizza boy and took over." I opened the door for him and he stepped inside.

"So it is you I'm supposed to give this to then" I waved the five dollar at him with a grin. He leaned into my face.

"Keep the change Babe" He brushed a light kiss against my lips and handed me the pizza. We went into my living room and sat down on the couch.

"So, you wanna tell me about your shooting accident today?" First I was taken by surprise and wondered how the hell he knew about that. Then I remembered that he IS Ranger after all.

"Yeah, I was going to check out John Mendez but just as I stopped my car outside his house he started shooting at me. So I drove off and decided to go back when he had calmed down… and I had a gun… and maybe you to help me out."

"Is that why you needed my help?" I nodded my head. "I'm glad your pride didn't get in the way" He smiled and put a stray curl behind my ear.

"Why did you leave this guy for me anyway?" I wanted to know.

"I didn't. I didn't know he'd come in, Connie must have thought she had showed him to me. If I'd known I wouldn't have left him, he's no good at all. Witch is why I'm so glad you decided to call me instead of going after him yourself. "He smiled at me.

I picked up the remote and turned on the TV and grabbed a slice of my pizza.

"You want some?" I asked him. He smiled and shook his head "Aah, a temple-day, I see" He chuckled and grabbed my waist, pulling me close to him. I snuggled up against his chest and we watched TV. After a while he reached down and kissed my temple.

"I gotta go Babe" he breathed against my ear.

"Okay." I sat up so he could get up.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow around noon okay?" I nodded my head.

"And I want you to have your gun, stun gun, cuffs… and all that" I guess this guy really was bad. I gulped.

"Are you sure you want me in on this? I can just hand him over to you and the other guys if you want" I hate to admit it but some times you gotta see your limitation.

"No it's okay, this is your guy now, besides I'm there with you."

"You sure?"

"Yeah… I'm sure" I smiled at him. When Ranger said he was sure, anything seemed possible. Then he was gone. I turned off the TV and headed for my bedroom.

Next day I woke up at ten, good, that meant I had time to shower and get ready without having to stress. I jumped in the shower and took my time, trying not to think about when I was cuffed naked to it and rescued by Ranger. Wow hot flash!

When I got out of the shower I put on black underwear, black cargo pants and a tight black t-shirt. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail and put on just enough make-up for it to look like I'd just rolled out of bed and looked good anyway, you know, the "natural" look. I looked at myself in the mirror. Yes I was a female Ranger. Without the muscles… or the mocha-latte skin… or the Bulgari… or the ability to make people faint by my sexiness… or the ability to move fast and without making a sound. Okay I wasn't female Ranger, I was a lame Ranger-wannabe. But that'll do for now. I put on my belt, attaching my gun, stun gun and cuffs to it. After that I grabbed some Captain Crunch for breakfast and watched some TV as I waited for him to show up.

At ten to twelve my locks began to rattle and a second later Ranger stepped into my apartment. When he saw me sitting on the couch waiting his lips curved into a surprised smile.

"Well I'll be damned. I thought I would have to throw you out of bed."

"You really thought you'd have to do that at twelve?" I know I'm not a morning person but come on!

"It hasn't stopped you before. Let's go." He motioned for the door. I got up and but my bowl in the sink before we went down to the parking lot.

During the drive Ranger filled me in on the details, apparently he'd had this guy a couple of times and if we were lucky we'd catch him off guard but if we didn't he tended to put up quit a fight. We were going to go in through the backdoor, not giving him a chance to get away. No more Mr. Nice Guy in other words.

We parked a couple of blocks away so my shooting accident from yesterday wouldn't repeat itself. We snuck into his backyard. Ranger didn't make a sound and I was trying as hard as I possibly could to follow his example. When we reached his backdoor Ranger put his ear to it and listen, I didn't make a move since I didn't wanna make noise. He turned to me and nodded and I stood back. I opened the door and stepped inside. We walked into the living room where Mendez was sitting watching TV.

"Bond Enforcement" Ranger said and Mendez jerked around and starred at us, apparently he hadn't hear us come in. "John Mendez you've violated your bonds contract and we are here to bring you back to the station… again." I guess the 'again' was Rangers way to say 'so we meat again punk' or something.

"What the FUCK! I'm watching TV here, I ain't going nowhere! Jesus can't you even watch some fucking TV anymore!" He stood up and started screaming and waving his arms. Ranger took a few steps towards him.

"Listen, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, it's up to you, but either way you're coming with us." Ranger said in his tough-business-guy-voice.

"Well I guess it's the hard way then" Mendez said and pulled out a gun and pointed it at Ranger. I was just going to grab my own gun when I felt two hands grab me and throw me down on the floor. I winced as I hit the ground and Ranger snapped his head around and looked at me. Mendez saw his chance and launched himself on Ranger who, caught of guard, fell to the ground too. The person who attacked me was a man about the same age as Mendez and I'm guessing a friend of his. He tried to hold me to the floor but I kicked, bit and wriggled the best I could. Luckily I got my elbow free and hit him hard in the stomach with it. When he winced I quickly stood up. Ranger had got up easily and was putting cuffs on Mendez who was screaming and kicking like a little kid. Ranger put his knee down on his arm and he squealed in pain.

"You're only making it worse" Ranger said in a superior voice. He stood up and I was just about to say something when I got a hard blow to my head, I screamed in pain and fell to my knees. I felt the blood coming down my neck and ear. I saw Ranger jerking around, looking at me in fear. After that everything went very fast. I felt the rage grow in me and turned around to the man behind me. I kicked him as hard as I could in the knee and the then put my boot to his crotch. Now it was his turn to squeal in pain as he fell backwards. The pain from my head overvelmed me put I tired to concentrate. I turned around and saw Ranger looking at me with deep concern in his eyes while he was keeping Mendez pinned to the floor with his foot. Then something behind him caught my attention. A woman's head had popped out from behind a door. Suddenly she pulled out a gun and pointed it at Ranger. Shit, Ranger didn't see anything since his attention was on me. I realized she was going to shoot him and my heart stopped. I heard someone scream 'No', I think it was me.I got up and grabbed my gun and threw myself over Ranger, as we fell to the ground I shot towards the woman. The bullet hit the door and the woman quickly disappeared behind it. Everything was still for a second. I was lying on top of Ranger, I looked down at him and felt relief floating through my entire body as I realized we were both still alive. I kissed him quickly on the lips and blurted out;

"I thought I'd lost y…" I cut myself off as I realized what I was doing. Ranger looked at me seriously.

"I know... but you did good." His voice was warm. I pushed myself off him and he and went to the see if the woman still was in the house as I put cuffs on the man who had attacked me. I must have kicked him pretty good since he was still moaning and holding his hands over his crotch. Ranger came back into the room.

"She's gone" he said and I nodded my head.

We dragged Mendez and his friend out the car and threw them in the backseat. Just as I was about to go over to the other side of the car, Ranger grabbed me and pulled me into a hug.

"You did good" He whispered one more time against my head. Then he released me and got in behind the wheel. We drove to the station and dropped them off. On the way back to my apartment neither off us said anything. Ranger kept glancing over at me, I guess my unusual silence worried him. As I sat there, legs up and my arms wrapped around them, biting my thumbnail I realized something and I knew I had to talk to Ranger.

When we pulled over on my parking lot Ranger turned off the engine and looked over at me.

"You okay Babe?"

"I need to talk to you... do you have time to come up with me?" I turned to look at him. He nodded his head in answer. We rode the elevator in silence. When we got into my apartment I kicked off my shoes and clipped off my belt before I sat down on my couch. Ranger sat down on the other side of the couch, leaving some space between us. I was going to need it.

"So what's on your mind?" He asked softy. I took a deep breath.

"I don't really know how to say any of this or where to begin... but I'll try."

"Just start from the top..." I closed my eyes again and took another deep breath. Then I decided not to care about what exactly I was going to say and instead just let the words flow.

"I need to say a lot of things to you, and one of them is thank you. You agreed to train me for reasons I don't understand when you really didn't have to and for that I'm eternally grateful, I know I'm not a very good bounty hunter but without your help I would be dead by now. Ever since that you've always been there for me, whenever I called needing help or if I was to drunk to stand on my own legs, no matter what, you've always been there helping me out. Helping me without demanding things or asking for anything in return… you've always accepted me for what I am… even though I've driven you almost insane most of the time have you never let me down and for that I want to thank you." I took a deep breath, starring down on my hands, not daring to look at him.

"But I also wanna say I'm sorry, sorry for never giving anything in return and always taking you for granted, never ones when I have called for help have I asked if you where busy with other things. I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass and most off all I'm sorry for not appreciating you the way I should. Every time you kissed me I should've kissed you with the same passion instead of feeling guilty over Morelli… and I'm sorry for going back to him over and over again even though deep in my heart I knew that we'd never have a future together. But most off all am I sorry for never telling you that I love you, 'cause I really do." I felt my voice beginning to crack and the tears burning in my eyes.

"I love you Ranger… in all the ways. I love you for sticking by my side when I have been a pain in the ass, for letting me make my own decisions, for not pushing me on the Joe subject and I really love you for not leaving me even though I kept going back to him. I love the way you smile and they way you always now what I'm thinking. Or the way you make me feel and I really love your shower gel. But most of all I love you for never trying to change me, for the way you always cared for me just the way I am. After tonight I realized I had to tell you, 'cause the thought of losing you without telling you all these things made my heart stop. I don't even know how long I've loved you but probably a lot longer than I think… but tonight I realized just how much." I made a small pause, looking him in the eyes. They were full of emotions and for the first time they looked vulnerable.

"But I understood something else tonight as well. I realized you were right, your life doesn't lend itself to relationships and now I understand why. You almost got shot tonight, because of me. Because you were worried and your attention was on me. The thought of you getting killed because of me makes me feel like I can't breathe. I finally realize why it can never me you and me, it's too dangerous. Not only would you get distracted but some people would probably use me to get to you. So you where right Ranger. I understand that know… but I couldn't do this without telling you how much I love you and how much I appreciate everything you've done for me. And I'm not sure we should see each other anymore. Not completely cut each other off, I will still be there if you need help for distraction and other work things. But I don't think we should see each other like this any more. I don't think I could handle it… sitting here on the couch, snuggling up against you or kisses in the alley… it would be too much for me. That's what I wanted to tell you… and… thank you for listening." I didn't bear to look at him and slowly wiped the silent tears from my face not knowing what to do next.

Ranger sat quiet for a while just starring at me. Then I heard him take a deep breath.

"You wanna know what the deal with your grandma was?" What? What did that have to do with any of this?

"Uhm… yeah… I guess" I hoped to god he had a point with this and wasn't just trying to change the subject.

"She said that the only way she would come down to the station was if I told you what she'd known for a long time. "

"And what was that?"

"That I love you... and I need you. She said that it was time for us to stop wasting time, get a grip of our selves and realize the truth. That we should stop playing these games and realize that this is it. And for the first time I think your crazy grandmother was completely right. After listening to you tonight I came to see that not only did you say some things that I didn't even know needed to hear. But as soon as you said them I felt that that was _just_ what I've needed to hear. It also made me realized what a fucking idiot I've been. A while ago, that night you where drunk, you said that I said one thing but meant another and you couldn't be more right. I sent you back to Morelli but kept on pushing, I don't blame you for being confused… Fuck, I don't even know what I'm doing most of the time. But I realized that I should never ever have sent you back to Morelli after our night, I should have never let go of you… just like a wanted to. But instead I chickened out and convinced myself that you only slept with me because of that stupid deal I made with you. I was so sure you would turn me down and go back to Morelli again that I didn't give you a chance to do it… I did it for you instead." He turned towards me and took my hands in his.

"And for that _I'm_ sorry, I should have told you straight up how I felt. The few times it slipped out of me I covered it up with some lame excuse like 'in my own way'. I don't even know myself why I agreed to train you after that day, but there was something about you that caught my attention… now I can't imagine life without you in it. But just as you said… my life doesn't lent itself to relationships and now you understand why. And you're probably right… we shouldn't see each other more than necessary. We should keep our distance… that's the right thing to do." He let go of my hands and I felt my heart sink. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. This was is I thought to myself… no more Babe and Batman.

"But you know what… it's just not good enough" Ranger finally said and looked at me again. "Steph I need you… now that I've had you in my life for so long I don't wanna go back to the way things were."

"What are you saying Ranger?" I felt my heart beginning to beat again.

"I'm saying that even though it's completely wrong and irrational, I wanna give this a chance... I wanna give you and me a shot." I felt my face crack up into a big smile.

"Then let's do it" I crawled over to him, put my hands around his neck and kissed the living daylight out him. I snaked his arms around my waste and pressed me tight against him. I don't now for how long we were kissing, could have been seconds, minutes or hours, but suddenly he broke it off and wolf grinned at me.

"You wanna have a second birthday Babe?"

"Why?" I asked surprised and a little dazed from the kiss. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me to my bedroom.

"Because there's something I forgot to give you" he whispered against my neck.

"And what is that?"

"Me" he answered in a husky voice. Oh boy.

**The end**

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_I hope you've enjoyed reading my first story, I've had a lot of fun writing it at least :)_


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